

























































LABORATORY LESSONS 


IN 


PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 



BY 

LU LESTER EVERLY, M. A. 

PRINCIPAL OF ST. PATL NORMAL SCHOOL, SAINT PACI., MINN. 

RALPH E BLOUNT, A. B. 

CALVIN L. WALTON, Ph.I). 

TEACHERS OK PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY IN' THE CHICAGO 
HIGH SCHOOLS 






NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



































AS THE CONDITION OF THIS VOLUME 
WOULD NOT PERMIT SEWING, IT WAS 
TREATED WITH A STRONG, DURABLE 
ADHESIVE ESPECIALLY APPLIED TO 
ASSURE HARD WEAR AND USE. 





























































































LABORATORY LESSONS 


IN 

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 


BY 

LU LESTER EVE ELY, M. A. 

PRINCIPAL OF ST. PAUL NORMAL SCHOOL, SAINT PAUL, MINN. 

RALPH E. BLOUNT, A.B. 

CALVIN L. WALTON, Ph.D. 

TEACHERS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY IN THE CHICAGO 
HIGH SCHOOLS 


mmn cf 

THE UMfitf Of COSGRKI 



» • 

< » » 


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NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 












Copyright, 1907, 1915, by 

LU LESTER EVERLY, RALPH E. BLOUNT, 

AND 

CALVIN L. WALTON. 

Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London. 

LABORATORY LE88ON8 IN P1IY8. OEOG. 

W. P. I 



©CU401378 

JON 14 1915 

/ 





CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Preface . g 

List of Apparatus ....... « 

MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY 

1. A Globe Exercise ............... 10 

2. The Globular Projection of the Western Hemisphere ........ 12 

3. Mercator’s Map of the Earth ............. 15 

4. Length of Day and Night. 19 

5. Sunrise and Sunset Graphs.22 

6. The Path of the Sun ...23 

7. Standard Time.26 

8. The Phases of the Moon .............. 28 

MATERIALS OF THE EARTH’S CRUST 

9-10. The Study' of Minerals.. 

11. The Study of Rocks.. 

12. Composition of Soil . ... 34 

13. Iron Compounds .. 36 

14. Coal.. 

15. Hard and Soft Water.39 

16. Stalactites and Stalagmites ............. 41 

17. Alkali Plains ..43 

DRAINAGE AND LAND FORMS 

18. Chalk Modeling ................ 45 

19. Introduction to Topographic Maps ............ 48 

20. Introduction to Topographic Maps ..50 

21. Illinois. La Salle Sheet. Development of Valleys ........ 52 

22. Drainage Areas of the United States ...54 

23. The Mississippi River ...56 

24. Minnesota. St. Paul Sheet. Mississippi River.58 

25. Iowa-Illinois. Savanna Sheet. Mississippi River ..60 

26. Louisiana. Donaldsonville Sheet. Mississippi River.62 

27. Mississippi River Sheet No. 14 64 

28. California. Cucamonga Sheet. Alluvial Cones ..66 

29. Illinois. Ottawa Sheet. Young Plain ..68 

30. Picture Supplement — Ottawa .. 69 

31. North Dakota-Minnesota. Fargo Sheet. Young Lake Plain.72 

32. Maryland-Virginia. Wicomico Sheet. Dissected Plain ....... 74 

33. West Virginia. Charleston Sheet. Mature Drainage.76 

34. Picture Supplement — Charleston.78 

35. Kansas. Caldwell Sheet. Old Drainage .......... 80 

36. Colorado. Lamar Sheet. Irrigated Plain .......... 82 

37. Arizona. Kaibab Sheet. Plateaus . ... 84 

38. Pennsylvania. Harrisburg Sheet. Appalachian Mountains ....... 86 

39. Colorado. Anthracite Sheet. Rocky Mountains ...88 

40. California. Shasta Special Sheet. Volcanic Cone ..90 

41. Bowlder Clay, or Till ..91 



















































PAC.H 


42. Comparative: Stcdy of Glacial and Lake (River) Pebbles ....... 93 

43. California. Siiasta Special Sheet. Alpine Glaciers ........ 95 

44. Wisconsin. Whitewater Sheet. Moraines and Drumlins ....... 97 

45. Picture Supplement — Whitewater ............ 99 

46. New York. Watkins Sheet. A Glacial Lake ......... 101 

47. New York. Niagara Sheet, or Niagara Falls and Vicinity. Glacial Effects . . 103 

48. The Chicago District.105 

THE ATMOSPHERE 

49. Experiments with City Gas.107 

50. Experiments with Oxygen .............. 109 

51. Experiments with Nitrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 

52. Experiments with Carbon Dioxide . . . . . . . . . . . .113 

53. Light. The Colors in Sunlight ............. 115 

54. Light. Absorption of Colors ............. 115 

65. Atmospheric Pressure ............... 117 

56. Columns of Mercury as Indicators of Air Pressure ........ 119 

57. Making a Mercurial Barometer ............. 121 

58. The Action of a Barometer .............. 123 

59. Conditions affecting Evaporation ............ 125 

60. Effects of Evaporation .............. 125 

61. Condensation of Water Vapor ............. 127 

62. Formation of Fog and Cloud ............. 129 

63. Moisture in the Atmosphere. Relative Humidity ......... 131 

64. Moisture in the Atmosphere. Absolute Humidity ......... 134 

65. Experiments with Heat — A. Expansion of a Solid; B. Expansion of a Liquid; C. Ex¬ 

pansion of a Gas ; D. Conduction ; E. Convection in a Liquid ; F. Convection in a 
Gas ; G. Radiation ; H. Absorption ........... 135 

66 . Relative Amounts of Heat received from the Sun ........ 140 

67. Elementary Exercise on Isotherms ............ 142 

68 . Distribution of Temperature ............. 144 

69. Seasonal Range of Temperature. Effect of Latitude ........ 146 

70. Seasonal Range of Temperature. Effect of Land and Sea ....... 148 

71. Daily Range of Temperature ............. 150 

72. Terrestrial or Planetary Wind Belts ........... 151 

73. Ferrel’s Law ................. 153 

74. Weather Maps ................ 155 

75. Weather Record ................ 157 

76. The Temperate Latitude Cyclone ............ 159 

77. Rainfall in the United States ............. 162 

78. Seasonal Distribution of Rainfall.164 

79. Seasonal Distribution of Rainfall (Advanced).166 

80. Magnetism. The Compass.167 

THE OCEAN 

81. Section of Ocean Border. Continental Shelf ... 169 

82. Section of the North Atlantic Ocean ........... 172 

83. Tides in the Ocean.. 174 

84. New Jersey. Atlantic City Sheet. A Low Coastal Plain.176 

85. Maine. Boothbay Sheet. A Rocky Coast .......... 178 

86 . Oregon. Port Orford Sheet. A Narrow Coastal Plain ....... 180 

87. Winds and Currents ............... 182 

88 . Ocean Routes ................. 184 

89. Rainfall and Vegetation .............. 187 

90. Picture Supplement — Rainfall and Vegetation.189 


4 









































PREFACE 


The exercises presented in this manual are intended to be sufficient for a full year’s work. The 
authors have prepared a separate manual, A Brief Laboratory Course in Physical Geography. This 
consists of those exercises, selected from Laboratory Lessons , which are suitable for a half year 
course. It is intended that the pages of questions and directions be bound with the answer papers 
in the notebook. In some exercises where the answers are short, blank spaces are left on the 
printed page that the answers may be written immediately after the questions. The “ loose leaf” plan 
of binding gives opportunity not only for the omission of exercises not needed, but also for the insei'- 
tion of such other exercises as any teacher may choose to give. To the same end, and also that the 
exercises may be taken in the order in which the topics are studied, the exercises are not numbered. 
Reference may be made to them by the page numbers at the bottom of the page. Pupils should pre¬ 
serve all their papers, and at the end of the course arrange them in order, number the pages at the top, 
and write on the Table of Contents sheet (pp. 191, 192) the number, name, and pages of each exercise. 
The teacher w’ill probably wish to examine and comment on each exercise as soon as it is done. The 
binding margin is a convenient place for marks, and also for the pupil’s name, but the pupil must be 
careful not to let his writing run into this margin. 

Some of the exercises require heat, water, and considerable apparatus — not always to be had at 
each pupil’s desk. It is suggested that such exercises be assigned, the day before they are to be done, 
to several pupils, who shall have the preparations complete, and perform the experiments in the presence 
of the class. All members of the class should then write up the exercise. Most of the exercises have 
questions at the end called “ Advanced.” These questions are usually more difficult than those preced¬ 
ing, and are intended for the rapid workers who finish the main questions before the majority of the 
class are through. 

A valuable service of the geographical laboratory is to give concreteness and location to the general 
principles taught in the text-book, and so the authors have tried in the manual to cover nearly all the 
topics treated in the common text-books of physiography. In the selection of contour maps care has 
been taken to choose those that clearly show the purpose of the exercise. Some of these maps, by their 
recognized merit, have become almost classic; it is hoped their value will be increased by the new setting 
given them. A certain uniformity of treatment, suggested by the headings in prominent type, has been 
followed wherever practicable, thus avoiding a haphazard way of approaching the problem. 

A Standard Scale for cross profiles has been used wherever possible in order to simplify the com¬ 
parison of regions. The horizontal scale is the same as that of the sheet where the ratio is 1/62500, 
and the vertical scale is 1 cm. = 100 ft. This gives a vertical exaggeration of about twenty. In 
regions of great relief a scale giving no vertical exaggeration is used. The great value of the “ sea- 
level’’profile is to show the altitude of the region. The space between the profile and the sea level 
should be shaded, or filled with the proper rock symbols. 

The authors recognize the fact that the few years during which the laboratory has been used as a 
help in geography teaching have not been sufficient to bring the methods to perfection. Their ambi¬ 
tion has been, not to write a book that shall stand permanently as an ideal in geography teaching, but 
to arrange some exercises that shall suggest better methods to many teachers, and save time for those 
who are too busy to work out the details of plans they may have had in mind. Criticisms and sugges¬ 
tions, looking to the elimination of errors or to the introduction of new material, will be welcomed by 
the authors. The exercises here given have been used in the class room for several years, and the 
authors are under obligations to their fellow-teachers for many valuable suggestions. The work has 
been tested in the class room again and again, rewritten where experience has shown it defective, 
and, it is hoped, will now be found suited to the needs of the pupil. 

5 


The following Maps and Apparatus are needed for the full set of exercises given in this book. 

For exercises done as demonstrations before the class, one set of apparatus will be sufficient. For 
the exercises which each pupil is to work out fully, all the material required (globe, maps, minerals, etc.) 
will be needed by each pupil. 

Topographic maps, published by the U. S. Geological Survey, as follows: — 


Arizona— Kaibab 
California — Cucamonga 

Shasta Special 
Colorado — Anthracite 
Lamar 

Illinois — Chicago Folio No. 81 
La Salle 
Ottawa 


Iowa-Ulinois — Savanna 
Kansas —Caldwell 
Louisiana — Donaldsonville 
Maine — Boothbay 
M ary land-Va. — Wicomico 
Minnesota — St. Paul 
New Jersey— Atlantic City 
New York — Niagara 


New York — Watkins 
North Dakota-Minn. — Fargo 
Oregon — Port Orford 
Pennsylvania — Harrisburg 
West Virginia — Charleston 
W isconsin — Whitewater 


Maps published by the Mississippi River Commission, St. Louis, as follows : — 

Sheet 14, or Sheet 18, of the Mississippi River Survey. 

Map of the Alluvial Valley of the Upper Mississippi River. 

Map of the Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi River from the head of St. Francis Basin to the Gulf. 


Pilot Charts of the North Pacific 
Pilot Charts of the North Atlantic 


j(a summer month and a winter month ; pp. 151, 184). 


Bound sets of weather maps. 


Drawing compasses. 

Colored pencils or water colors. 
Ruler marked in inches and in 
centimeters. 

Protractor. 

A six-inch globe. 

A rubber band inch wide to 
encircle the globe. 

A horizon disk (p. 23). 

A small ball with smooth un¬ 
marked surface. 

Copper or brass gauze (p. 41). 

3 shallow pans (p. 34). 

1 long shallow pan. 

Blotters. 

Steel knitting needle. 

Sewing needles. 

1 doz. small wooden blocks one 
inch thick (p. 48). 

Metal ring and solid brass ball 
(p. 135). 

Metal rod two feet long. 

Wax or paraffin. 

Candle. 

Touch paper (p. 137). 

Thread — coarse and very fine. 

2 Argand lamp chimneys. 
Dentists’ rubber. 


Small mirror. 

Bright tin cup. 

Hand magnifier. 

1 doz. 6-inch test tubes. 

^ doz. 10-inch test tubes. 

3 large test tubes, perforated 
bottom (p. 34). 

Assorted glass tubing. 

T tube \ inch. 

Rubber tubing. 

Glass funnel. 

Mason pint jar. 

Erlenmeyer flask. 

3 wide-mouth bottles with one- 
and two-hole rubber stoppers. 
Vial. 

Air thermometer. 

Thistle tube. 

Glass plates. 

Glass tumbler. 

Glass cup (pp. 121, 123). 

Glass prism. 

Barometer tube. 

3 lbs. mercury. 

2 bar magnets. 

Iron filings. 

Air pump or bicycle pump. 
Two-ring iron support. 


2 thermometers of same size. 

A chemical balance. 

Limewater. 

Sodium peroxide. 

Sulphuric ether or alcohoL 

Potassium hydroxide. 

Pyrogallic acid. 

Hyposulphite of soda. 

Alum. 

Dilute hydrochloric acid, acid 
bottles, and glass rod. 

Pieces of marble. 

Specimens of the following min¬ 
erals and rocks: quartz, feld¬ 
spar, mica, hornblende, cal- 
cite, and others if desired 
(p. 30); coarse granite, gneiss, 
limestone, marble, sandstone, 
quartzite, shale, slate, and 
miscellaneous rocks. 

Various kinds of coal. 

Iron ores (p. 36). 

Rich black soil, sand, clay, un¬ 
weathered till. 

Glacial pebbles, w r ater-w r ashed 
pebbles. 

Molding sand, modeling tool, 
and sand tray (see p. 45). 


6 





30-40 


! MISSOU 


MEAN ANNUAL RAINFALL 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES 

(After Qannet, 1893.) 


L.L^POXXES, FNSH., N.Y. 


!»■' 


8 





























































































A GLOBE EXERCISE 


Purpose. To study latitude and longitude, etc., on a globe representing the rotating earth. 

Material. A small globe, a pair of compasses, a ball with smooth surface unmarked. 

Questions (Answers to be written on note paper of about the same size as this sheet; see Preface.) 

1. Has the smooth ball lying still on the desk a diameter? A circumference? An axis? An 
equator? Poles? 

2. Spin the ball as you would a top. Which of the above-named features has it acquired by 
rotation ? 

3. What is the name of the line on which the ball rotates? Where are the poles? Where is the 
equator? 

4. On the globe note two sets of reference lines (fine, black) drawn as a convenience in desig¬ 
nating the location of places. In what directions do these lines run? 

5. The meridians (north-south lines) end in what points? 

6. They are how many degrees long? 

7. How many meridian lines are drawn on this globe ? How many could there be in imagina¬ 
tion? Into how many equal spaces do those drawn divide the surface of the globe? 

8. How many degrees wide is one of the meridian spaces? How many miles wide at the equa¬ 
tor? At the pole? 

9. Set the compasses at the width of a meridian space at the equator. At what latitude does this 
equal the width of two meridian spaces ? How many miles in the 300 degrees of longitude at this lati¬ 
tude ? How many miles in one degree of longitude here ? 

10. The meridians are numbered along the equator. Beginning at the north, name in order the 
seas and countries through which the prime meridian (numbered 0) passes. What la.rge city lies on 
the meridian? 

11. Place the globe with the prime meridian toward you. Is east longitude toward your right 
hand or your left ? 

12. Name in order, beginning at the prime meridian and going east, the countries and oceans 
crossed by the equator. 

13. The distance between the equator and the pole is divided into how many bands of equal width 
by parallel circles around the globe ? How many degrees wide is each band ? 

14. From what line is latitude reckoned? What is the greatest number of degrees of latitude 
possible on the globe? At what places? 

Advanced Questions. 15. Suppose it is noon January 1, 1907, at London; count eastward the 
meridian spaces (each 15° represents one hour in the afternoon); what is the time at 180°? Count 
westward the time before noon; what is the time at 180°? What difference in time do you get at 
180° by the two counts? The international date line “where the day begins” follows the meridian of 
180° in the main, passing, however, through Bering Strait and west of the Aleutian Islands. 

16. Find the parallel circles (drawn in broken lines) that mark the zone boundaries, and give 
their names in order, beginning at the north. How many degrees from the equator to each tropic 
circle? To each polar circle? How many degrees wide is the torrid zone ? Each temperate zone ? How 
many degrees from the edge to the center of each frigid zone? Name the waters and countries through 
which each zone boundary passes. 

17. Give the latitude and longitude of each of the following places : Washington, Chicago, San 
Francisco, London, Rome, Tokio, Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Farewell. 


10 




























































THE GLOBULAR PROJECTION OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 


Purpose. To represent in a plane the curved surface of half a sphere. 

Material. Drawing compasses, a medium-hard sharp pencil, a ruler, a small globe. 

On an accompanying sheet of paper is a circle six inches in diameter to represent the circumference 
of the globe, a straight line to represent the equator, and another at right angles to this to represent the 
central meridian. Through the three points next above the equator marked on the central meridian 
and on the circumference, draw an arc to represent 10° N. latitude. Through the next three points 
draw another arc to represent 20° N. latitude; and so on. These arcs may be drawn free-hand, or, if you 
have a suitable compass, set one leg in the line of the central meridian extended, at a distance of 24 
inches from the 10° points and draw the arc. For each new arc you will have to take a new radius; 
for 20° take llf-inch radius; for 30°, 7 inches; 40°, 4 if inches; 50°, 3f inches; 60°, 2f inches; 70°, If 
inches; 80°, | inch. 

Draw the corresponding lines south of the equator. 

For the tropical circles (latitude 23 J°) use a radius of 9| inches; for the polar circles (latitude 66f°), 
a radius of If inches. Draw colored or broken lines to represent these circles. 

Through the poles and each point marked on the equator draw a meridian; free-hand or with com¬ 
pass (one leg in the equator line) set as follows: for the meridian nearest the central, 9f-inch radius; 
for the next, 5-inch radius; then 3f inch; 3f inch; and 3^g inch. If the meridians are drawn free-hand, 
draw the second from the center first; then the fourth, bisecting the space in which it is drawn; the 
first, third, and fifth each bisecting its space. Number the meridians along the equator, beginning at 
the right (east), 0°, 15°, 30°, etc., up to 180° at the west margin. Along the east and the west margin 
number the parallels 0°, 10° N., 20° N., etc., and 10° S., 20° S., etc., and write the names of the tropical 
and the polar circles. 

Find on the globe the latitude and the longitude of the south point of Florida, the mouth of the 
Mississippi River, and the point of Yucatan. Locate these points on your map by means of your lati¬ 
tude and longitude lines, and with these points for guides draw the outline of the Gulf of Mexico. Get 
the latitude and the longitude of a point in Nova Scotia, in Labrador, etc. Locate these points on your 
map and sketch in the east coast of North America. In the same way fix several guide points in the 
west coast of North America, and in the coast of South America, and complete the outline of the 
western continent. 

Questions. 1. One half inch on the equator of your map represents of the earth’s circumference; 
how many miles does it represent ? One half inch for this number of miles may be taken as the scale on 
which the map is drawn. 

2. Will f inch represent this number of miles along the central meridian? 

3. Will \ inch represent this number of miles along the most easterly and the most westerly 
meridians ? 

4. The 60° parallel on the globe is just half the length of the equator; is the curved line 60° on 
your map just half as long as the equator? 

5. Considering the questions above, what parts of your map are true to the scale? What parts 
are inaccurate? 

6. What angles do meridians make with parallels on the globe ? 

7. Where on your map do the meridians make this angle with the parallels? 

8. On the globe, is the distance between two parallel circles everywhere the same? 

9. Is it so on your map ? 

10. Hold your pencil along the central meridian of your map. In what direction does it point ? 

11. Slide the pencil slowly to the left or right without changing its direction on the paper; does it 
along its whole length continue to point in the same map direction as at first? 

12. Hold your pencil along the equator; in what direction does it point? 

13. Slide it slowly up or down without changing its direction on the paper; does it continue along 
its whole length to point in the same direction as at the equator? 

Advanced Questions. 14. Questions 1 to 9 call attention to inaccuracies which cannot altogether 
be avoided in representing a spherical surface in a plane. What are the inaccuracies ? 

15. Questions 10 to 13 call attention to inconveniences in the map. What are the inconveniences? 

12 



13 
































































































































MERCATOR’S MAP OF THE EARTH 


Purpose. To draw a map that shall represent the surface of nearly the whole earth, and in which 
the points of the compass do not shift in going across the paper. (See questions 10-13 in the exercise 
on the Globular Projection of the Western Hemisphere, p. 12.) 

Material. Globe, ruler, hard, sharp pencil, drawing compasses. 

On the accompanying double sheet of paper is a rectangle drawn for the frame of your map. Across 
this, 3f inches from the bottom (measure at both ends), draw a line 12 inches long, to represent the 
entire equator. Along the equator and also along the inner line at the top and at the bottom of the 
frame, make a dot every half inch. Through these dots draw lines to represent the meridians. 

Questions. 1. How many meridian spaces are there in the map? Therefore, how many degrees 
apart are the meridians ? 

2. Reckoning the circumference of the earth as 25,000 miles, how many miles apart are the 
meridians at the equator ? 

3. Are the meridians on the globe the same number of miles apart at 10°, 20°, 30°, etc., from the 
equator ? 

Are they equidistant on your map ? 

Is, therefore, the scale at which the map is drawn at one latitude the same as that at which it is 
drawn at another latitude ? 

For this reason no scale is commonly given for a Mercator’s map, except sometimes a scale for the 
equator. 

4. Imagine a circular island 100 miles in diameter at the equator and another of the same size at 
60° latitude. At 60° latitude the meridians in Mercator’s map are “ stretched ” apart to double their 
normal distance. Into what shape, therefore, would the circle imagined at 60° on the earth be 
“ stretched ” on the map ? 

5. How could this figure, while keeping its double east-west size, be brought to the form of a circle 
again ? 

In order, then, to represent on the Mercator’s map small bodies of land or water in their true shape, 
a band of 10° of latitude at 60° from the equator should occupy as much space as 20° along the equator. 

The east-west “ stretching ” between meridians has been computed for each 10°, and the space 
that would normally be occupied by 10° of latitude on this map (f inch) has been multiplied by 
this number, that the north-south exaggerations might equal the east-west, and so the correct forms 
of small areas be maintained. Draw a line for 10° latitude inch from the equator, one each side; for 
20° draw a line almost | inch from the 10° line (almost f§ inch from equator) ; for 30°, a very little 
more than f inch from the 20° line (1 3 3 z inches from equator) ; for 40°, T % inch from the 30° line (1|t 
inches from equator) ; for 50°, \ inch from 40° (2^ inches from equator) ; for 60°, a little more than 
| inch from 50° (a little more than 2§f inches from equator); for 70°, one inch from 60° (a little more 
than 3|lf inches from equator) ; for 80°, a little more than If inches from 70° (5 T \ inches from equator). 

6. Why not continue the map to the pole? 

The Arctic Circle should be drawn not quite f inch north of 60°, and the tropical circles less 
than f inch from 20°. 

Sketch in the outlines of North and South America, and Greenland, after having carefully located 
their prominent points, as in the Globular Projection. 

7. On the globe, how does Greenland compare in size with South America? How do they compare 
on your map ? 


15 



The Mollweide Projection 


Advanced Questions. The Mollweide Projection is another means of representing the entire surface 
of the earth. 

8. Which map, the Mollweide or the Mercator, would be more convenient for showing the directions 
of wind and of currents of water? Which would be more useful to navigators? 

9. Which map would be better for showing comparative areas ? 

10. Although the Mollweide does not exaggerate size in any part, it has what drawbacks? 


11. What part of the Mollweide has the greatest distortion of shape? 


What part has least? 


16 

































































LENGTH OF DAY AND NIGHT 


Purpose. To find the number of hours the sun is (a) above the horizon, and (6) below the horizon 
at certain times and places. 

Material. A 6-inch globe and a rubber band T 9 5 inch wide, to encircle the globe. 

Place the globe on the desk before you, north pole tipped 23^ to the right. Raise it to the level of 
your eyes, which will represent the sun. This is the position the earth has relative to the sun March 21. 

1. Imagine a thread from the center of the sun to the center of the earth. At what point does it 
pierce the earth’s surface? 


This is called the “vertical ray.” 

2. What angle does it make with the earth’s surface ? 

3. With the earth’s axis? 


4. How much of the earth’s surface is in the sunshine ? How much in the darkness? 

Rotate the globe toward the east (from your left to right). 

5. What two places stay in the line dividing sunshine from darkness? 

6. On which side of the globe does every city come from darkness into the sunshine (sunrise) ? 

7. On wdiich side does every city go from sunshine into darkness (sunset)? 

8. How far across the sunshine area has each city passed at its noon ? 

9. Where is every city at midnight? 

Place the band around the globe so that the edge nearer the sun shall lie in the line dividing sun¬ 
shine from shadow. 

10. If the meridians on the globe are 15° apart, how much time does each space between merid¬ 
ians represent? 


11. Each point on the equator passes through how many hours from sunrise to sunset? 

12. From sunset to sunrise? 

The space under the band has twilight. 

13. Does the band cover the same number of hour spaces at all latitudes ? 

14. In what latitudes is twilight very short? 

15. In what latitudes very long? 


In the table given below fill out the March column for all the places given, 
in night.) 


. LENGTHS OF DAY AND NIGHT 


(Twilight is included 




March 21 

Place 

Latitude 

Day 

Night 

Mouth of Amazon River 

0° 



Your own city 




Rio de Janeiro 

23° S. 



North Cape 

71° N. 




June 21 

December 22 


Night 

Day 

Night 






19 
























16. On what other day of the year will the sun be above the horizon and below the horizon the same 
number of hours as on March 21 ? 

Remove the band from the globe. Keeping the axis pointing to the same spot in the heavens as in 
the March position, move the globe to your left one fourth of the way around your head. This is the 
June position. 

17. Which polar region is now entirely in the sunshine? 

18. Which entirely in the shadow ? 

19. At what latitude does the vertical ray touch the surface? 

20. What angle does the sun’s ray make with the axis? 

21. IIow many degrees past the north pole does the sunshine reach ? 

22. IIow many degrees does it fall short of reaching the south pole? 

Place the band around the globe in the June position so that the edge nearer the sun shall lie in the 
line dividing sunshine from shadow. Fill the June column in the table. 

Remove the band. Keeping the axis pointing to the same spot in the heavens, revolve the globe 
further to the left, from the June position one half way round your head. The globe is now in the 
December position. 

23. Which polar region is entirely in the sunshine? 

24. Which in shadow? 

25. At what latitude does the vertical ray strike the surface? 

26. IIow r many degrees past the south pole does the sunshine reach ? 

27. How many degrees does it fall short of reaching the north pole? 

Place the band around the globe to represent the December position, and fill the December column in 
the table. 

Fill the blanks in the following general statements, and cross out in each pair the word which is 
incorrect. 

At the equator all days are-hours long. 

The higher the latitude, the longer shorter the summer day, and the longer shorter the winter day. 

On March 21 and September 23 all places have equal unequal day and night of-hours. 

The lower the latitude, the longer shorter the twilight. 


20 
































































. 



























SUNRISE AND SUNSET GRAPHS 


Purpose. To study and compare graphically the lengths of day and night through the year at differ¬ 
ent latitudes. 

Copy the following general statement, using the correct word only of each pair and filling the blanks: — 
A place nearer the equator has a longer shorter day in winter and a longer shorter day in summer than a 

place farther from the equator. About-(date) the nights and days are equal and-(number) 

hours long. 

Write the numbers of the twenty-four hours of the day (12, 1, 2, 3, etc.) along the binding border of 
a sheet of cross-section paper (end of this book), each number at the end of a heavy line, beginning and 
ending with midnight. At one end of the sheet write the names of the months on twelve consecutive 
heavy lines. From the table given below, choose the latitude nearest that of the place in which you live, 
and find the time of sunrise January first. On the January line of the cross-section paper make a dot in 
the place that indicates the given time of sunrise. Find the time of sunset for the same day and make a 
dot in the proper place on the January line. The space between the dots shows the length of day. From 
the table get the times of sunrise and sunset on the first day of February, and make dots on the February 
line in the proper places for these times. Do the same for each month. Draw a line connecting the sun¬ 
rise dots and another connecting the sunset dots. The space between these lines represents day, the 
space outside of them, night. 

Questions. 1. About what time of the year is the day longest ? How many hours long ? 

2. About when is it shortest? How many hours? 

3. At about what date does the sunrise graph' cross the 6 a.m. line ? When does the sunset graph 
cross the 6 p.m. line ? 

On the same paper draw sunrise and sunset graphs for St. Petersburg, — using a colored pencil or 
dash lines to distinguish from the graphs first drawn. 

4. About what time of year is the day longest ? How many hours long? 

5. About when is it shortest? How many hours? 

6. When does the sunrise graph cross the 6 a.m. line? When does the sunset graph cross the 
6 p.m. line ? 

7. Which of the two places has the longer summer day? Which has the longer winter day? 

8. On what date does the graph of one place cross that of the other; i.e. when is sunrise or sunset 
for the two places at the same hour ? 

Be sure each graph is labeled at the end with the latitude of the place it represents. 

Advanced Questions. Draw the graphs for 82° N. (Fort Conger), continuing the lines till they meet 
at about noon in February and in October, and until they reach midnight. 

The opening between the lines at midnight means continuous day. About how long is it? About 
how long is the continuous night (indicated on the noon hour) ? 

Draw as many other graphs as you have time for. 


MEAN LOCAL TIME OF SUNRISE AND SUNSET. 1899 






Place 

Para 0° 

Cancer 23$° N. 

Chicago 42° N. 

St. Petersburg 
60° N. 

Ft. Conger 

82° N. 

Cape Town 
34° S. 


Sun 

Rise 

Set 

Rise 

Set 

Rise 

Set 

Rise 

Set 

Rise 

Set 

Rise 

Set 

January 1 




6:00 

6:08 

6:41 

5:27 

7:28 

4:40 

9:02 

3:06 



4:52 

7:16 

February 1 




6: 10 

6:18 

6:40 

5: 49 

7:12 

5: 16 

8:15 

4:13 



5: 21 

7:06 

March 1 • 




6:09 

6: 16 

6:21 

6:04 

6:34 

5:51 

6:55 

5:30 

8: 55 

3:34 

5:48 

6:36 

April 1 • 




6:00 

6: 07 

5:52 

6:16 

5:42 

6: 21 

5:24 

6:45 

3:50 

8:25 

6:12 

5:55 

May 1 • 




5:53 

6:00 

5:26 

6:28 

4: 55 

6: 59 

3:56 

7:59 



6: 35 

5:19 

June 1 




5:54 

6:01 

5:14 

6:42 

4: 25 

7:30 

2:48 

9:08 



6:57 

4: 59 

July 1 




6:00 

6:08 

5:17 

6:50 

4:28 

7: 40 

2:40 

9:26 



7:06 

5:01 

August 1 




6:02 

6: 10 

5:29 

6:43 

4:52 

7: 20 

3: 36 

8: 34 



6:53 

5:20 

September 1 




5:56 

6:03 

5:42 

6:18 

5:25 

6: 34 

4:50 

7: 10 

1:45 

10:00 

6:18 

5:42 

October 1 




5:46 

5:53 

5:51 

5:48 

5:57 

5:43 

6:03 

5: 36 

6:40 

4:55 

5: 37 

6:03 

November 1 




5:40 

5:48 

6:05 

5:33 

6:33 

4: 54 

7:24 

4:04 



5:00 

6:28 

December 1 




5:46 

5:54 

6:25 

5:14 

7:09 

4: 30 

8:35 

3:03 



4:40 

6:58 


22 







































THE PATH OF THE SUN 


Purpose. To see how the sun appears to move through the heavens during the day at different 
latitudes and seasons. 

Material. A six-inch globe with pin holes along longitude 180° at the latitudes given below; a disk 
one inch in diameter with two diameters drawn at right angles and marked at the ends N., E., S., W., and 
through whose center a pin is thrust to its middle; a single bright light in a room otherwise darkened. 

Prick no holes in the globe , but put the pin holding the disk into a hole already made at longitude 
180°, latitude 0°. Be sure the N. is to the north. The pin represents you, the disk your horizontal 
plane. Turn your back to the light which is to represent the sun ; hold before you in the light the 
globe, in the March 21st position, i.e. north pole tipped 23J° to the right. Have the disk on the dark 
side of the globe; rotate the globe slowly counterclockwise. When you (the pin) reach the sunrise 
line, the light will first fall on the surface of the disk and your shadow will appear. 

1. In what direction does the shadow extend ? 

2. In what direction, then, is the rising sun ? 

3. As the globe slowly rotates observe the movement of your shadow. Where is it at noon ? 

4. Where, then, is the sun at noon? 

5. What is the direction of the setting sun ? 

6. On what other date does the sun move through the heavens in the same path as on March 21 ? 

Holding the globe in the same place change it to the June position, i.e. north pole tipped 23^° 
toward you. Beginning with the disk in the shadow, rotate as before. 

7. Does the sun rise north, or south, of east? 

8. At noon is the sun north, or south, of overhead (zenith) ? 

9. Does the sun set north, or south, of w T est? 

Holding the globe in the same place, shift it to the September position, the north pole tipped to 
the left. Rotate as before. 

10. What is the direction of the rising sun? 

11. Of the sun at noon? Of the setting sun? 

Shift the globe to the December position, north pole tipped 23j° from you. 

12. Does the sun rise north, or south, of east? 

13. At noon is the sun north, or south, of the zenith ? 

14. Does the sun set north, or south, of west ? 

In each column of the table below write the direction of the sun in 0° latitude. 


DIRECTION OF SUN AT RISING, AT NOON, AT SETTING 


Latitude 

March 21 

June 21 

December 22 

Rising 

Noon 

Setting 

Rising 

Noon 

Setting 

Rising 

Noon 

Setting 

Equator .... 
Your city 

23° S. .... 

71° N. .... 











23 


























Move the pin with the disk to the latitude of your own city. Find the directions of the sun morn¬ 
ing, noon, and evening in March, June, and December, and fill blanks in the table. 

Move the pin and disk again to latitude 23° S. Find the directions of the sun as before and 
write in the table. 

Repeat the study for latitude 71° N. 

15. At places far north from the equator does the sun rise in June more, or less, north of east 
than at the equator? 

16. In December more, or less, south of east than at the equator? 

17. If the sun rises north of east, where will it set? If it rises south of east, where will it set? 

General statements of the directions of the rising and setting sun, etc., may be made, similar to the 
general statements at the end of the exercise on Length of Day and Night, p. 20. 

In the recitation following this exercise, the pupil should be required to indicate, with a pointer 
moving steadily at arm’s length, the path of the sun through the sky on the days and at the latitudes 
given. 


24 






















































. 
















STANDARD TIME 


Purpose. To study the time belts commonly employed in the United States. 

Questions. 1. How many hours is 75° W. longitude different in time from London? When it is 
noon at London, what time is it at this meridian? 

On a blank United States map (p. 193) draw this line, 75° W., heavy with ink or colored pencil. 

2. Name a large city lying near this longitude. 

3. When it is noon at London, what time is it at 90° W. ? 

Draw this meridian as you did the 75th. 

4. Name three large cities near it. 

5. When it is noon at London, what is the hour at the 105th meridian west? Draw this meridian. 

6. Name a large city near it. 

7. When it is noon at London, what is the hour at the 120th meridian west? Draw this meridian. 

8. Name a large city near it. 

The meridians mentioned above are the centers of the four time belts of the United States. 

9. How much does each differ from its neighbor in time? 

Theoretically, the division lines between the time belts should be halfway between these meridians. 
Draw light lines to mark their positions, 671° W., 82^° W., etc. At the north border write the names of 
the time belts; east of 67£° W. is Atlantic Time (used in the eastern part of Canada and Newfound¬ 
land) ; then Eastern Time, Central Time, Mountain Time, Pacific Time. 

Practically, the railroads regulate the time and make the hour changes to suit their convenience at 
the ends of railroad divisions. Draw heavy lines through the points named below, and you will have 
approximately the standard time boundaries as they are practically used. 

Between Eastern and Atlantic Time — the eastern boundary of Maine. 

Between Eastern and Central Time — from Port Arthur through Lake Superior and Lake Huron to 
Detroit, to Buffalo (keeping north of Lake Erie), to Erie, Pittsburg, Parkersburg, Asheville, Atlanta, 
Augusta, Savannah. 

Between Central and Mountain Time — Qu’Appelle, Bismarck, North Platte, Dodge, El Paso. 

Between Mountain and Pacific Time — Calgary, Boise, Reno, El Paso. 

Advanced Questions. 10. Why is Mountain Time omitted on the Southern Pacific Railroad in 
Texas and New Mexico? 

11. Why in Nevada does Mountain Time extend almost to the 120th meridian? 

12. Why does the Central belt extend so far west of its theoretical boundary ? 

13. Why do southern Georgia and Florida have Central Time rather than Eastern? 


26 






















































THE PHASES OF THE MOON 


Purpose. To study the changes in appearance which the moon undergoes during the month. 

Material. A small globe. 

Let some object at the front of the room represent the sun, your head the earth, the globe the moon. 
Holding the globe at arm’s length, turn yourself slowly once around to the left; the top of your head 
represents the north pole; the globe’s movement represents the course of the moon around the earth. 

Hold the globe a little north or south (above or below) of the line from the earth to the sun; it is 
now new moon. 

Questions. 1. About what fraction of the moon’s surface is lighted by the sun? Can you, the 
earth, see the light part? 

2. Imagine the earth rotating on its axis. At what time of day does the moon rise (i.e. appear in 
the east on the horizon) ? When does it set? 

What is its direction at noon? At midnight? 

[Move the globe through one fourth of its orbit — one week’s time. 

3. How much of the illuminated half do you see ? 

4. When does the moon rise? When set? What direction is it in the morning ? In the evening? 

Revolve the moon through another fourth of its orbit. It is now called “ full.” 

5. How much of its illuminated half do you see? 

6. When does it rise? When set? Where is it at noon? At midnight? 

Revolve the moon through the third fourth of its orbit. 

7. Make four sketches (name each) to show the form of the bright moon at each quarter; mark the 
east side E. and the west side W. 


Advanced Questions. 8. At one end of a sheet of note paper write an S to represent the sun. One 
and one half inches from the other end, write E for the earth; to represent the moon's orbit, draw 7 a 
circle, one inch radius, around E. Indicate the position of the moon at each quarter. Name all parts 
of the diagram. 

9. During the first and fourth quarters the moon is crescent; during the second and third quarters 
it is gibbous. Sketch each form. 

10. If you hold the moon firmly in your hand during its revolution, does it rotate on its axis? Dc 
we ever see more than one side of the moon ? 


‘28 













































































































A STUDY OF MINERALS 


Material. The minerals listed below and any others desired, a piece of glass, a piece of steel (such 
as a knitting needle), dilute HC1, a rag. 

The minerals given you were selected because they are either constituents of common rocks or are 
much used. Examine each specimen and record its properties in the table below. In testing its hard¬ 
ness, first try to scratch glass with it. If it will not scratch glass, i.e. if it is softer than glass, see 
whether the steel will scratch it and whether easily or with difficulty.. If it seems very soft try scratch¬ 
ing it with your thumb nail. Record the exact result of your test. Put a small drop of acid on the 
mineral; after a minute wipe it off with the rag. If the acid produces no effect, record the fact. If the 
acid does produce some effect, describe what you see. In the last column describe any other noticeable 
properties, such as unusual weight, cleavage (splitting with flat faces), magnetism, etc. 


Name of Mineral 

Color 

Hardness 

Effect of Acid 

Other Properties 

Quartz. 





Feldspar . 





Mica. 





Hornblende .... 





Calcite. 





Lead Ore. 





Iron Ore. 






30 













































THE STUDY OF ROCKS 


Purpose. The different rocks composing the crust of the earth are either igneous rocks or rocks derived 
from igneous rocks by the action of such forces as the weather, great heat and pressure, and chemical 
agencies. The following studies are intended to emphasize the important properties of the common 
rocks, such as: I. Igneous rocks (granite and gneiss), II. Calcite rocks (limestone and marble), III. 
Clay rocks (shale and slate), IV. Quartz rocks (sandstone and quartzite), Y. Miscellaneous rocks. 

I. Granite and Gneiss. Granite results from the slow cooling of lava under heavy pressure. Gneiss 
is composed of the same minerals as granite, but is coarsely banded, a structure probably due to a re¬ 
arranging of the minerals in granitic rocks. 

1. What is the general color of the granite? Of the gneiss? 

2. How are the minerals arranged in the granite ? In the gneiss? 

3. Xame and give the color of the different minerals found in each rock. 

4. Tell the shape of the grains, whether rounded or angular. 

5. Could the grains have been collected by running water and bound together as you see them 
here? Give a reason. 

6. How does a drop of acid act when put upon each rock? 

7. How hard is each rock as shown by steel-rod test? 

8. Which rock do you think is better for buildings and monuments, and why? 

II. Limestone and Marble. When granite rocks decay, certain minerals, especially feldspar, yield 
lime, which, uniting with carbon dioxide, produces calcite or limestone. Marble is a crystalline rock 
resulting from changes in beds of limestone. 

1. What is the color of the limestone? Of the marble? 

2. How do the two rocks compare in hardness? Are they soft or hard? 

3. Describe the action of acid upon limestone; upon marble. If the action is very slow, the rock 
is probably dolomite (one containing some magnesium carbonate). 

4. Do you find any fragments of shells in either rock ? If so, describe them. 

5. Which rock would make a better interior finish? Which is more extensively used for outside 
work ? Why ? 

6. If the surface rocks of a region consist of masses of granite and limestone, which would weather 
the more rapidly and so form valleys? Which would form the ridges and hills? Give a reason for 
your answer. 

III. Shale and Slate. Another product of the decomposition of feldspar and similar minerals is 

mud or clay (kaolin). This fine material is carried into the sea. and there by moderate heat and pres¬ 

sure may be made into shale. Greater heat and pressure will produce slate. 

1. What is the color of the shale? Of the slate? 

2. Which rock has the smoother and softer feel? 

3. Can you scratch either rock with the thumb nail? Determine by other tests, if necessary, which 
is the harder rock. 

4. Examine the rocks with the magnifier. Can you see the grains distinctly in either ? Why ? 

5. How does a drop of acid act when put upon each rock? 

6. Which rock do you think would be more easily affected by rain and frost? Why? 

7. Why can slate be used for blackboards and roofing, and not shale ? 

8. If a level region consisting of granite, limestone, and shale is exposed for a long time to the 

weather, which of the rocks would probably form the ridges and which the valleys? Why ? 

IV. Sandstone and Quartzite. When granite decomposes, quartz alone remains unaltered. Grains 
of quartz are collected by running water and bound together by a cement into sandstone. The cement 
is probably carbonate of lime, if white or gray, and iron oxide, if yellow or brown. Quartzite, in which 
silica is the cement, has been formed by pressure, heat, and chemical changes in beds of sandstone. 

1. What is the color of the sandstone? Of the quartzite? 

2. From which can you loosen grains the more readily with the steel rod? Which, therefore, is 
the firmer rock ? 

3. Examine both rocks with the magnifier. In which can the grains be more easily seen ? M hat 
is the reason ? 


31 


4. Plow does a drop of acid act when put upon each rock? In what way does this test determine 
relative compactness? 

5. From what you know about cements, which kind do you think holds the grains together in the 
sandstone ? 

6. Which rock would make a better building stone ? Which is more commonly used ? Why? 

7. If masses of granite, limestone, shale, and sandstone compose the surface rock of a region, which 
of them would in time form valleys and which hills? Why? 

V. Miscellaneous Rocks. If it is desirable to study other kinds of rocks, the following questions 
may be used: — 

1. Give name and color of the rock. 

2. Describe the structure, whether (a) fine or coarse, (Z>) porous, cellular, or compact, (c) uniform, 
banded, or stratified. 

3. Has the rock a smooth or a gritty feel? A bright or a dull luster? 

4. Is its weight light, medium, or heavy? 

5. How hard is the rock? 

6. How does a drop of acid act when put upon the rock? 

7. What minerals can you find in the rock? 

8. For what uses is the rock well adapted? Why ? 

Porosity of Rocks. In connection with the study of rocks the following test of their porosity may 
be made: — 

Take samples of dry granite, sandstone, limestone, and shale of about equal size (as large as a 
walnut) and weigh each carefully. Put them into a dish of water, and after two or three days take them 
out, wipe off the surface water, and weigh them again. From these weighings determine the relative 
porosity. 

Fill out a table like the following: — 


Name of Rock 

Dry Weight 

Wet Weight 

Increase 

Percentage of Increase 







32 












































































COMPOSITION OF SOIL 


Purpose. To study the composition of soil. 

Material. A sample of moist soil, a hand magnifier, a glass plate, dilute hydrochloric acid, a 
closed vial containing | inch of the soil and not quite filled with water, three shallow pans, some sand 
and some clay, and an apparatus, described below, for testing the porosity of soils. 

Questions. 1. What is the general color of the soil? 

2. Put a little of the soil on the glass plate and examine it with the magnifier. 

(a) Do you find any pebbles or fragments of rock? If so, give their sizes, shapes, and kinds. 

(b) Do you find any grains of sand ? If so, give their colors and shapes. 

(e) Do you find any rock waste finer than sand? If so, by what name is it generally known ? 

((/) Put a drop of acid upon the soil. What does the test show ? 

( e ) Look for vegetable matter, such as roots, bits of leaves, bark, or stems. Describe what you 
find, and tell whether the amount is large or small. 

(/) Do you find any fragments of shells? If so, describe them. 

(ff) If you find any seeds, describe their appearance. (The seeds are probably from weeds, and 
would grow under favorable conditions.) 

( h) Describe any other substances you find in the soil. 

3. Carefully examine the vial containing soil, and make a drawing of it. Label the different parts 
of the contents. 

4. Gently shake the vial until all the soil is in suspension, then place it upon the table and observe 
what part settles first, what next, and so on, and what floats. Describe the order in which the various 
parts settle. 

5. The apparatus for showing porosity of soil consists of three or more large test tubes with 
small holes in the bottom, stopped with cotton to prevent the soil from running through. These 
test tubes are fastened to a stand and nearly filled with different kinds of soil, oue with clay, one with 
sand, one with soil under examination, etc. Pour water into the tubes and compare the number of 
drops that fall from each in two or three minutes. How do the soils compare with each other in 
porosity ? 

6. Will the soil under examination allow air and water to enter it readily? Why? Would it 
be called light, medium, or heavy? 

Advanced Questions. 7. Name the different rocks that may have contributed to the formation 
of this soil. 

8. Put a quantity of sand into one of the large pans, clay into another, and the soil under 
examination into a third. Wet all thoroughly and stir one half of each sample with a stick, leaving 
the other half undisturbed. Set them aside for a few days, and when they are fully dry, examine 
them to see whether the soils “ cake ” and how they are affected by working them when wet. Write a 
full description of this operation and the results. 


84 






















IRON COMPOUNDS 


Purpose. To study some of the important compounds of iron. 

The principal ores from which iron is obtained are (1) Hematite (Fe 2 0 3 ), (2) Magnetite (Fe 3 0 4 ), 
and (3) Limonite (2 Fe 2 0 3 , 3 H 2 0). The first two contain about 70% of iron and the last about 60%. 

Iron pyrites (FeS 2 ), “fool’s gold,” has a brass-yellow color with a metallic luster, and the crystals 
are often cubical. This mineral is of no value as a source of iron, as the sulphur cannot be entirely 
driven off. It is of importance, however, as a source of sulphuric acid and sulphate of iron. 

A. Library Work. The pupils should consult works of reference, such as Census Reports, Geolo¬ 
gies, and Commercial Geographies, to find: — 

1. Location of large deposits of iron. 

2. How the ore is mined, where it is marketed, and how it is smelted. 

3. How cast iron, wrought iron, and steel are made. 

4. The advantages of finding iron ore, coking coal, and limestone together, as in Alabama. 

5. What three states lead in the manufacture of iron, and why? 

6. The commercial importance of iron products. 

B. Laboratory Work. The pupil should examine as many different kinds of iron ore as possible 
and for each kind determine the following properties: — 

1. Color. 

2. Luster. 

3. Hardness. 

4. Color of the streak made by rubbing the ore on rough paper. 

5. Effect of acid. 

6. Whether the weight is light, medium, or heavy. 


36 




































































































































COAL 


Purpose. To study the characteristics of coal. The coal series comprises (1) Peat, (2) Lignite, 
(3) Bituminous coal, (4) Anthracite, (5) Graphite. 

A. Library Work. The pupil should consult works of reference on coal (see under Iron Com¬ 
pounds) to learn : — 

1. The origin of each kind of coal. 

2. The kinds of rock associated with coal. 

3. The location of large coal fields in the United States. 

4. The three leading states engaged in the mining of coal. 

5. The coking of coal and the use of coke. 

6. The industrial use of each kind of coal. 

7. The output of coal in the United States as compared with the rest of the world. 

B. Laboratory Work. The pupil should examine specimens of as many kinds of coal as possible, 
also partly burned pieces of anthracite, to see the structure. Then a description of each coal should be 
written, giving : — 

1. Color. 

2. Luster. 

3. Brittleness. 

4. Fracture (irregular or shelly). 

5. Hardness. 

6. Structure features (make drawing). 

7. Place small fragments of soft coal in a test tube fitted with a one-hole stopper through which is 
pushed a short glass tube drawn to a fine bore. Heat the test tube and light the gas driven out through 
the tube. Describe the various substances produced. 


38 


HARD AND SOFT WATER 


Purpose. To determine whether water is hard or soft. 

Material. Three test tubes, strong soap water, distilled or rain water, limewater, and the water to 
be tested. 

1. Put distilled water into a test tube (half full), add two or three drops of the soap water, and 
shake vigorously. What collects at the top of the water? How much of it is there? 

2. Repeat the operation, using limewater instead of distilled water, in another test tube. What 
collects at the top, and how much is there? 

3. Again repeat the operation, using the water to be tested, in another test tube. What collects at 
the top, and how much is there ? 

4. Does the material gathered at the top of the test tube in the last trial more closely resemble 
that on the distilled water, or that on the limewater? 

The result will indicate whether the water sample is soft or hard. 

Another way to test the relative amounts of mineral matter in samples of water is to put a drop of 
each kind of water upon a clean piece of glass. When the drops have evaporated, hold the glass toward 
the light and compare the thickness of the deposits. 


39 













STALACTITES AND STALAGMITES 


Purpose. To show how formations in caves are made. 

Fill a large bottle with a saturated solution of alum or photographers’ hypo. Put a siphon into the 
bottle and by means of a pinch cock or a glass tube drawn to a fine point, cause the drops to form very 
slowly — one every half minute — and allow them to fall upon two pieces of fine-mesh copper or brass 
gauze, supported one a few inches below the other. Examine this from time to time and note the growth 
of the deposits. Write below a full description of the experiment and make a drawing of the apparatus 
and deposits. 


t- 


41 












































































■ 
















































ALKALI PLAINS 


Purpose. To show how arid plains become alkaline. 

Material. A dish of sand and a saturated solution of alum or salt. 

Put some dry sand into a dish and wet it well, but do not flood it, with the alum or salt solution. 
Stand the dish aside for a few days, and a layer of alum or salt will be found over the surface. After 
the experiment is completed, answer the following questions : — 

1. How did the salt get to the surface? 

2. Where do the alkaline salts come from that are found on the alkali plains? 

3. How do they get to the surface? 

4. Why are alkali plains found only where there is little rainfall? 

5. How will abundant irrigation make these alkali plains productive? 


43 


/ 


























































































































































































































































































CHALK MODELING 


One can understand the ups and downs of a region best by walking over it and then reproducing 
his impressions by constructing an accurate model of it in clay or some other material. An excellent 
substitute for this latter is to have the hand express the surface by the method known as chalk model¬ 
ing. Holding a crayon or pencil, have the hand and stroke follow the directions of the slopes and level 
stretches of your mental picture of the region. Then, too, the play of lights and shadows impress us as 
vividly as the hills and valleys, and must be shown by the depth of shading. 

The guiding principles are few and simple. 

1. Every stroke of the pencil must follow the direction of the slope as seen from the observer’s 
view point. 

2. All hills, plains, etc. must be shown in their proper proportions. 

3. Show bright lights and deep shadows, such as are seen when the sun is in mid-afternoon. 

4. Coast lines and edges of precipices must not be shown by a line, but by a change in direction of 



slope and depth of shadow. 

5. The size of objects decreases with distance. This holds true for a small landscape. However, 
the relief of an entire continent is drawn as though a model of it were lying on the table before you, 
thus bringing all parts of it about equally near. 

6. Distant objects are less distinct, because of the haze of the atmosphere. 

7. The broad side of a crayon or the broad end of a drawing pencil gives more of a surface effect 
than thin lines. 

8. To represent a plain, draw horizontal lines, no line being distinct, all being blended, the distant 
ones dimmer. (Cut A.) 

9. To draw a hill slope, let every stroke be oblique, the nearer ones being longer, and all curving 
to horizontal at the base. (Cut B.) 

10. To draw a complete valley or mountain, one side should be dim, the other bright, and brightest 
at the very top. (Cuts C, D, E.) 

11. The sharper the contrast between light and shadow, the more distinct will be the relief. 

12. At first practice drawing angular surfaces, showing the light coming from the right. (Cut F.) 

13. To show a river on a plain, let the horizontal portions of the meandering line be longer and 
more prominent than the other parts. (Cut E.) 


45 























































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INTRODUCTION TO TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS 


I. Learning to Read. 

(a) Make a large model of a hill and plain as follows: Make an open wooden frame, like a picture 
frame, three or four feet long. Tack in two diagonals. On one of these, a little from the middle, fasten 
an upright ten or twelve inches high, to hold up a hill. Lay pieces of cloth over the upright and frame 
and tack at the border. Put in a few small uprights to hold up ridges down the hillside. Run strings 
from the diagonals to places in the cloth that are to be tied down for valleys. Soak a sheet of strong 
paper in flour paste for a few minutes. Paste it over the cloth, pressing it down into the valleys and 
moulding it to produce the topography you wish. When it is dry cover it with another paste paper. Four 
or five layers of paper wfill make a stiff, light cover. The last layer should make a smooth surface. (A 
chalk model on the blackboard may be substituted for this paper model.) 

On this model draw contour lines all the way around, every inch, making the fifth and tenth heavier 
than the others. Place the model before the class in a horizontal position, that the pupils may see 
clearly that the contour lines mark it off in slices of equal thickness. Teach the phrase “contour inter¬ 
val.” Then holding the model so that the pupils see it vertically, imagine it collapsed, the contours be¬ 
ing projected into the plane of the base. By oral discussion and questions, lead the class to recognize 
the following a b c’s of contour reading: 

steep slope — lines close together; 

gentle slope — lines far apart; 

uniform slope — lines equidistant; 

hilltop — closed contour ; 

bowl-shaped hollow — depression contour; 

valley — contours bend up slope, convex to highland; 

ridges on slope — contours bend down slope, convex to lowland. 

Read altitude at any point. 

( b ) Let the teacher sketch contours rapidly on the board and the pupils pick out hills, valleys, steep 
slopes, etc., and give the altitude of any point touched. When they think they know how to read, let 
them try a few catches and ambiguities — lines without numbers marked, changing intervals, no closed 
contours — that they may learn to be careful. 

(c) Use oral drill on a number of topographic maps showing hills, valleys, plains, etc. No writing; 
rapid work; all pupils using the same map at one time. (Use maps which will be studied and written 
up in the notebook later.) With these maps 

1. Explain the approximate miles to the inch. To how much of the area represented by the map 
would a specified area in your own neighborhood be equivalent? Give the distance from one designated 
place to another. 

2. Note the contour interval, and why different maps have different intervals. 

3. (The pupils should have had the Globe exercise, p. 10.) Learn to read the latitude and longitude 
figures at the corners and margins of the map. 

4. Let a pupil find a high hill and give its latitude and longitude and altitude. Repeat until every 
pupil can do it quickly on any map. 

5. Find and locate a river. Note the valley sides marked by contours. Give the value of the con¬ 
tour at the top of the valley side at some place and at the bottom of the valley in the same locality; the 
difference is the depth of the valley. Get the depth by counting the contour spaces, also, if that is con¬ 
venient. Get the distance (by scale) from the top contour on one side to the top contour on the other 
side — the width of the valley at the top. 


48 







4 





































































INTRODUCTION TO TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS 


Get the distance between the two contours of the same lowest value at the bottom of the valley, to 
find the width of the valley at the bottom. Draw an off-hand cross profile, to show the relative width 
of the valley and the slope of the sides, similar to one of these. 



Get the grade of the stream at any place by dividing the contour interval by the distance between 
two adjacent contour lines crossing the stream; or, if the grade is steep, count the contour spaces crossed 
by the stream in a mile, and multiply by the interval. From the forms of the contour lines, find rain 
gullies, i.e., valleys in which no streams are marked. 

6. Profiles. Choose a comparatively simple place of moderate relief. Notice the ups and downs, 
valleys and divides, along a line between two given places. Draw an off-hand profile. Make a rough 
estimate of the amount of exaggeration. 


Prairie Country, Bisected Plateau, Old Worn Down Plain, 

Vertical Exaggeration x 10 Vertical Exaggeration x 2 or 3 Vertical Exaggeration x 10 

7. General topography. Is the country generally plains (large spaces between contours), hills, or 
mountains? Are the level and gently sloping areas large or small? Are they high (on the divides), or 
low (flood plains) ? Are the slopes steep, or gentle, or are there some of both? Is the country much or 
little cut by valleys? Are the valleys deep or shallow? 

8. Culture. Observe the way in which villages and cities are marked, and distinguish between the 
sizes of towns. Where are they situated, and why? Wagon roads — quadrangular or irregular arrange¬ 
ment, follow valleys or divides, few or many, indicate thin or dense population. Railroads— number, 
do they follow valleys or divides or go across country? Boundaries between townships, counties, etc. 

Repeat this oral study till the pupils are familiar with the technique of map reading. 

II. The Use of Maps 

With the study of the geographic regions of the United States and with the study of the various 
topographic features—river valleys, mountains, glaciers, plains, etc. — use topographic maps to illustrate 
both special forms and the general surface of a district. The preceding oral drill should have made the 
pupil familiar with the method of reading, so that now only those questions which bring out the special 
features need be asked. The following general plan is recommended for each map: 

(a) Location. Find the location of the sheet on a U. S. map (see p. 8). Give the geographic dis¬ 
trict and drainage basin to which it belongs. 


(b) Topography. Give a short description of the topography, — hilly, mountainous, plain, character 
of valleys, altitude, etc. 


(c) Rainfall. Describe the climate, so far as it can be read from the sheet and from the rainfall 
map on p. 8. 


(d) Culture. State the chief cultural features and show how they depend on topography and 
climate—situation and size of towns, wagon roads and railroads and water transportation, occupations. 


( e ) Special. Study the features called to your attention in the special questions which are given 
under each map study in the exercises which follow. 

50 




















, 






















































ILLINOIS. LA SALLE SHEET 


Purpose. To study the earlier stages of valley development. 

Description of the Region. The valleys selected for this study have been cut in the glacial drift and 
underlying rock of north-central Illinois. 

Location and Extent. 1. To what geographic district does this region belong? (See map of Geo¬ 
graphic Districts, p. 8.) On what scale of miles is the sheet drawn ! 

Relief and Drainage. 2. What contour interval is used here? To what drainage system does this 
region belong? 

A. A Study of a Synall Gorge or Ravine. Find the small gorge, south of the Illinois River, about £ 
of a mile west of the Vermilion River. 

3. Are the contours that show this gorge close together or well spread apart? Do the sides have a 

steep or a gentle slope? Is the bottom of this gorge broad or narrow ? How can you tell? 

4. Does the gorge become deeper or shallower as one goes from the mouth to the source? How 

shown ? Does the top of the gorge become broader or narrower as one goes in the same direction ? 

5. Count the contours that cross the bottom of the gorge and tell how many feet higher the head 
is than the mouth. How long is the gorge? What is the grade per mile? 

6. Does this gorge have any tributaries? Does the sheet show many or few such gorges as this? 

7. Make a sea-level profile on cross-ruled paper across this gorge where the 500-foot contour crosses 
it, and extend the profile to the road on each side; use the standard scale, i.e., with the horizontal 
scale same as in the topographic sheet, and the vertical scale 1 cm. = 100 feet. This standard scale 
exaggerates vertical distances about twenty times their true proportion. Beginning on west side where 
the road turns, and going east, use following contours: 620, 610, 500, 610, 620, 620, road. 

B. A Study of a Young River Valley. Notice the little Vermilion River that flows from the north 
into the Illinois at La Salle. 

8. Are the contours along the river close together or widely separated? Does this show steep or 

gentle valley sides? Is the bottom of the valley broad or narrow, and how can you tell? 

9. About 31 miles up this river from its mouth the 4S0-foot contour makes a loop across it. Find 

this place and give the depth of the valley here and the width at the top. 

10. The contours along here cross the valley about a mile apart; what is the grade per mile? How 
does this grade compare with that of the gorge just studied ? 

11. Make a sea-level profile across this valley (crossing the river at right angles) where the 480-foot 
contour crosses it, using the standard scale. Put this beside the gorge profile on same sea-level line. 
Beginning on the west use the following contours: 620, 620, 610, 600, 4S0, 640, 640. 

C. .4 Study of a Broad River Valley. The size of the Illinois River Valley is largely due to the 
great volume of water that flowed out from Lake Chicago, the glacial enlargement of Lake Michigan. 

12. Are the contours that represent the valley sides close together or well spread apart? What, 
therefore, is the character of the slope? Is the bottom of the valley (the flood plain) wide or narrow? 
How wide is the floodplain opposite LaSalle? How do the contour lines show that the flood plain is 
comparatively level? Does the river have a direct or a meandering course along its flood plain? How 
many contours are represented as crossing the river on this sheet? How does the grade compare with 
that of the Little Vermilion ? 

13. Find a contour that best represents the altitude of the flood plain. What is it? Find a con¬ 
tour that best represents the altitude of the top of the bluff opposite La Salle. What is it? How deep, 
then, is the valley? 

14. Make a sea-level profile across the valley a little east of the mouth of the Vermilion River, and 
extend it a half mile or more on each side, using standard scale. Make use of only those contours that 
show change in slope. Put this profile beside the others. 

15. Culture. In which of the three valleys studied have wagon roads been constructed? Railroads? 
Canals? Why cannot these means of transportation be as easily constructed in the other valleys? 

16. Advanced Questions. State two or three characteristics that you have noted which show that 
the valley of the Illinois River is farther developed than that of the Little Vermilion. 

17. Do you find a river on the sheet that seems to represent a stage of development between the 
Illinois and the Little Vermilion ? If so, what is it and why do you so regard it? 


/ 


DRAINAGE AREAS 


Purpose. To map and to study the drainage of the United States. 

On a map of the United States showing the rivers (near end of this book — just before the cross- 
section paper), draw lines to show the principal drainage areas according to the following suggestions : — 

1. Atlantic Drainage (not including the St. Lawrence). Begin at the north boundary of Maine and 
draw a line along the divide that separates the streams flowing into the ocean from those flowing into 
the St. Lawrence. In west-central New York, the divide turns southward, separating the head waters of 
the Ohio from the Susquehanna, thence along the Appalachian Mountains, through Florida to the 
southern end. Label the area east of the divide “Atlantic Drainage.” 

II. Gulf Drainage (not including the Mississippi). From the place where the previous divide 
enters Georgia, draw a line westward and then southward to the Gulf, which will separate the Tennessee 
River from the streams that flow into the Gulf east of the Mississippi. Then begin west of the Mis¬ 
sissippi River and draw a line around all the streams that flow into the Gulf, including the Rio Grande. 
Label these two areas “ Gulf Drainage.” 

III. Pacific Drainage (not including the Columbia River). Begin just below mouth of the Columbia 
River; draw a line southward along crest of the Sierra Nevada, and down to the south boundary of 
California. Label. 

IV. St. Lawrence Drainage. From place where the Atlantic Drainage divide turns southward in 
New York, draw line westward south of Lake Erie, around end of Lake Michigan, and northward 
around end of Lake Superior. Label. 

V. Mississippi Drainage Basin. From point where divide turns eastward around Lake Superior 
draw line westward around head of Mississippi River, southward around the head of the Red River of the 
North, north and west around head of the Missouri River, southward along crest of Rocky Mountains 
to line inclosing Gulf Drainage. Label. 

VI. Colorado River Basin. From point where the divide crosses meridian 110° in Wyoming, draw a 
line close along the western side of Colorado River to the Gulf of California. Also, from point where 
the Rio Grande divide passes into Mexico, draw' a line westward to the mouth of the Colorado. Label. 

VII. Columbia River Basin. Draw a line from the Pacific divide in Oregon to the Colorado River 
divide, crossing northeastern Nevada, northwestern Utah, and southeastern Idaho. Also another line 
from the northwestern corner of Mississippi divide northwestward to Cascade Mountains, south along 
these mountains to central Washington, then southwestward to the ocean. Label. 

VIII. Great Basin Drainage. In southern California connect the Pacific divide with Colorado River 
divide. Label. 

IX. Hudson Bay Drainage. The region immediately north of the St. Lawrence and Mississippi 
river basins drains into Hudson Bay. Label. 

Color all bodies of water blue, and the drainage areas different shades of red, orange, or yellow. 

Questions. 1. Which of the drainage areas includes the largest part of the United States? Which 
the smallest? 

2. Which has no outlet to the ocean ? Is the rainfall of this basin heavy or light? 

3. Which area occupies the central part of the United States? Name four important rivers belong¬ 
ing to this area. 

4. What and where is the divide that separates the water flowing eastward into the Atlantic and 
the Gulf from that flowing westward into the Pacific? 

5. About what fractional part of the United States drains toward the Atlantic and the Gulf, and 
what part toward the Pacific ? 

6. Why is the St. Lawrence basin better for commerce than the Mississippi River basin? 

7. In what area do you live, and for what is it especially valuable? 

54 












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THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER 


Purpose. To study the alluvial valley of the Mississippi River from St. Paul to the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

Material. Two maps, four sheets each, published by the Mississippi River Commission, St. Louis. 

(a) Map of the alluvial valley of the upper Mississippi River. 

( 'b ) Map of the alluvial valley of the Mississippi River from the head of St. Francis Basin to 
the Gulf of Mexico. 

Questions. A. The Upper Valley. 1. Give a common width of the flood plain (tinted area) be¬ 
tween Cairo and St. Paul. 

2. Most of the upper valley is preglacial. Give the locations of the two narrow stretches which 
the river has cut since the glacial period. They have a swift current and rocky bottom, the only 
obstructions to navigation between St. Paul and the Gulf. 

3. Is the general course of the upper valley straight, regularly curved, or irregular? 

4. Name two places at which the river meanders sufficiently to erode the sides of the valley. 

5. How do the courses of the small streams in the flood plain compare with the courses of the 
same streams in the upland ? 

6. Name several cities located on the flood plain, and several on the bluffs bordering the flood plain. 

B. The Lower Valley. 7. Give the maximum and the minimum width of the flood plain south of 

Cairo. 

8. Give the straightrline distance from Cairo to the mouth of the Mississippi River, and also 
the river distance (see figures near the mouth). Explain the difference. 

9. Compare the number of small streams in the lower flood plain with the number of those in 
the adjoining uplands, and explain the difference. 

10. How do the meanders and cut-off lakes of the small streams compare in size with those 
of the Mississippi River? 

11. What becomes of the water of the small streams that rise near the bank of the Mississippi 
between Memphis and Vicksburg and flow away from it? Does the direction of their flow indicate that 
the banks of the Mississippi in this region are higher or lower than the general level of the flood plain ? 

12. How many miles wide is the delta from North Pass to Southwest Pass? 

13. How many miles is New T Orleans from the mouth of the Mississippi? 

14. Name the cities that are built on the flood plain of the lower Mississippi, and those that are 
on the bluffs overlooking the flood plain. Why should these cities be at these particular places on the 
bluffs ? 

15. At what distance from the mouth of the Mississippi does its first distributary (the Atchafalaya) 
branch off? 

16. Make a sketch map of the lower delta (“goose foot”). 


I 



56 
























' 






































MINNESOTA. ST. PAUL SHEET 


Purpose. To study the gorge and the terraces of the Mississippi River near St. Paul. 

Description of the Region. The region represented by this sheet is in eastern Minnesota. The 
surface was considerably modified by the ice and water of the glacial period. Beneath a layer of glacial 
drift is the durable Trenton limestone, and below this is the soft St. Peters sandstone. 

Location and Extent. 1. Between what meridians does this region lie? Between what parallels? 
How wide is the sheet in degrees? How long? To what geographic district does it belong? (See 
map of Geographic Districts, p. 8.) 

2. What is the exact scale of miles? What is the approximate equivalent? How many miles 
•wide is the region shown on the sheet ? 

Relief and Drainage. 3. What is the contour interval? To what large drainage system does this 
region belong? 

A. The Gorge of the Mississippi River extends from Pike Island to the Falls of St. Anthony, 
just at the edge of the sheet (the Falls are not named on the sheet). 

4. In what direction does the river flow along this part of its course? How long is the gorge? 
IIow wide at the top and how deep is it where the wagon road crosses near its mouth at Fort Snelling? 

5. What is the name of the largest tributary to the gorge from the west? What falls are 
in this stream? How far up the stream have the falls already receded? How high are they as shown 
by the contours ? 

B. The Terraces were formed by the river cutting into its former flood plain. 

6. In a general way how does the valley of the Mississippi below Pike Island compare in 
width and depth with that of the Minnesota? This broad valley was made during the glacial period, 
and since that time these rivers have been forming a new flood plain within the old one, leaving terraces 
in some places. 

7. Find the terrace on the north side of the Mississippi between the mouth of the gorge and 
St. Paul. How wfide is this terrace near St. Paul ? How high above the newer flood plain is it ? What 
part of this terrace at St. Paul is covered with buildings? Do you consider these buildings safe from 
floods, and why? Are those on the newer flood plain safe, and why? 

Culture. 8. Can river boats go very far above St. Paul? Why? Give a reason, then, for the 
location of St. Paul. 

Minneapolis, about ten miles farther up, has extensive manufacturing industries. From what 
source can factories there derive power? Why are these two cities so close together? 

Advanced Questions. 9. Give a reason why factories are not built around Minnehaha Falls. 

10. Give as many reasons as you can for believing the portion of the Mississippi above Pike 
Island younger than the portion below. 

11. Give reasons for believing the valley of the Minnesota River as old as that of the Mississippi 
below their junction. 

12. Make a sea-level profile across the Mississippi from “ S. Base ” on parallel 44° 55' southward 
to Pilot Knob, using standard scale. 


58 





















. 




IOWA-ILLINOIS. SAVANNA SHEET 


Purpose. To study a typical portion of the Mississippi valley and adjacent upland along the 
middle course of the river. 

Description of the Region. This region lies in about the same latitude as Chicago. Although it 
was not covered by the ice sheet of the glacial period, yet the water from the melting of the ice front 
overflowed a large part of this region and deposited a thick layer of fine silt. The Mississippi occupies 
a broad, well-defined valley, which is characteristic of the river from St. Paul to near the mouth of the 
Ohio River. 

Location and Extent. 1. Where is this region located? To what geographic district does it be¬ 
long? 

2. What is the approximate scale of miles? How wide is the region represented on this sheet? 

Relief and Drainage. 3. What is the contour interval ? Are the contours in general straight or 
crooked op the sheet, and does this show smooth or rough slopes ? 

4. Notice the flood plain of the Mississippi. How can you tell where the sides of the flood plain 
are? How wide is the flood plain at the southern end of the sheet? at its narrowest place above Savanna? 

5. Do you find many or few contours on the flood plain, and what kind of surface does this show the 
flood plain to have? Do the contours follow closely along each side of the river, thus showing that the 
river is cutting a new valley in the floor of the old flood plain as it has done at St. Paul ? 

6. The river has a braided channel here, and the inclosed sandy islands show that the river has re¬ 
ceived more sediment than it can immediately move along. Do you find contours on any of these is¬ 
lands? What rise of water above that at time of survey would cover them ? 

7. The altitude of the top of the bluff is about 840 feet. What is the altitude of the flood plain, 
and how deep, then, is the river valley here ? 

8. What two tributaries of the Mississippi drain most of the upland region on the eastern side? 
How have they changed the former small relief of this region ? Do you call the drainage of these two 
tributary basins complete or incomplete, and why ? 

9. With the blunt end of your pencil follow the divide between Plum River and Rush Creek from 
Savanna to the upper end of the sheet. Do any streams cross it ? Do you think this divide is a narrow 
ridge or a broad strip, and why do you think so? 

Culture. 10. Which of the two towns, Sabula or Savanna, is in more danger of floods, and why ? 
What railroad crosses the Mississippi here? 

11. Have the wagon roads been laid out on the rectangular plan, and why? Do the w T agon roads 
as a rule follow divides or stream valleys ? 

12. What is the annual rainfall of this region ? (See p. 8.) Is it sufficient to keep the small 
streams running the whole year ? Look for intermittent streams, shown by broken blue lines. Is the 
rainfall sufficient for general farming purposes? 

Advanced Questions. 13. Where is the line that marks the boundary between Illinois and Iowa, and 
what would naturally change it from time to time ? 

14. What evidence do you find to show that the Mississippi once had its channel on the east side 
of its flood plain below Savanna ? 

15. Make a sea-level profile across the Mississippi at a convenient place above Savanna, to the 800- 
foot contour on each side, using standard scale. 


60 


LOUISIANA. DONALDSONVILLE SHEET 


Purpose. To study the swamp flood plain and levees along the lower course of the Mississippi River. 

Description of the Region. An arm of the Gulf of Mexico once extended far north of this region 
somewhat like the Chesapeake Bay at present. This arm or bay has been nearly filled with river 
sediment, and the mouth of the Mississippi is now more than 180 miles below Donaldsonville. The dry 
land or natural levees on each side of the river have been made by the more rapid deposits here at the 
time of floods. Close along the river artificial banks have been built on top of the natural levees, thus 
keeping the water within its channel except at times of unusual floods, when the levees are w r ashed away 
(see Nita Crevasse). Bayou Lafourche at Donaldsonville is one of the principal delta distributaries. 

Location and Extent. 1. In what part of Louisiana is this region located? To what geographic 
district does it belong? 

2. Give the approximate scale of miles. How does the width of this sheet compare with the St. Paul 
sheet in degrees and in miles? Explain any difference you may find. 

Relief and Drainage. 3. What is the contour interval, and does this suggest a region of little or 
great relief? What relief is indicated, also, by the small number of contour lines and by the extensive 
swamps? 

A. The Swamp Flood Plain. 4. What is the altitude of the lowest contour on the northeastern side 
of the Mississippi? On the southwestern side? Is a large or a small part of these swamps below this 
contour level ? Are the contours on these swamps close together or far apart, and what does this show 
as to the slope? Are there many or few streams in the swamps? Do you consider these swamps well 
drained ? 

B. The Levees. 5. What is the altitude of the lowest contour anywhere on the levees? Is this con¬ 
tour near the river or near the swamp? What is the value of the highest contour on the levee, and 
where is it found? Does the levee slope toward or away from the river? Where do you find two 
contour lines very close together? Where, then, is the slope the greatest? Do the small streams flow 
toward or away from the Mississippi ? 

6. The outbreak at Nita Crevasse occurred in 1890. Note its location, and tell why an outbreak is 
more liable to occur there than on the opposite side of the river. Where did the outflowing water de¬ 
posit its sediment, and how has this deposit affected the w T idth of the levee? 

Culture. 7. Only what portion of this region is suitable for farming? What is the annual rainfall 
of this region? (See p. 8.) Will this amount run off quickly where the slope is so gentle? Of what 
use, therefore, are the ditches (the straight blue lines), and where do they carry the water? 

8. Where are the two main wagon roads located ? Why is not the common rectangular plan of 
roads followed here? 

9. Make a sea-level profile across the levees and river near the stations of Winchester and White¬ 
hall, beginning and ending with the 5-foot contour. Make the river channel 100 feet deep and 
containing 90 feet of water. Use standard scale. 

Advanced Questions. 10. The principal crops of this region are sugar, cotton, and rice; by what 
two ways may they be sent to market? Which way is the quicker? Which way is probably the 
cheaper, and why ? 

11. Make a sketch of the river from Donaldsonville to College Point and mark the position of the 
swiftest part of the current by a broken line. At how many places is the river liable to break through 
its banks at flood time, and why? At what bends do you find evidences of crevasses similar to the Nita 
Crevasse? 


62 








. 

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. 






■ K 










































* 
















MISSISSIPPI RIVER SHEET NO. 14 


Noth. These sheets are prepared by the Mississippi River Commission, St. Louis. Mo., and deal with the com¬ 
mercial importance of the river. Scale: 1 iu. =» 1 ini. If sheet No. 14 cannot be obtained, sheet No. 18 may be sub¬ 
stituted by making a few changes in the questions. 

Purpose. To study river conditions that attend flood-plain meanders. 

Description of the Region. The region represented on this sheet is about midway between the 
mouth of the Ohio and the Gulf, and fairly represents a large part of the lower course of the Mississippi. 
The banks of the river consist of unconsolidated sand and silt, which are easily cut away by the current. 

Questions. 1. Between what two states does this part of the Mississippi flow? 

“2. The numbers iu the middle of the stream are river distances in miles below the mouth of the 
Ohio at Cairo, Ill. How far below the mouth of the Ohio is Ashbrook Point at Rowdy Bend? 
Sunnyside Landing ? 

3. Find Jones’s Lauding, and tell how many miles a boat must sail to go from there to Sunnyside 
Landing. How far does a boat sail in going from Jones’s Landing to Upper Leland Lauding, and how 
many miles would be saved if the river were cut through from one to the other? 

4. At Rowdy Beud does the current line (a dotted black line) go on the outside or the inside of the 
middle of the channel? On which side, then, is the current the swifter? On which side is the river 
cutting away its bank? 

5. On which side of Rowdy Bend has the sand bar (fine black dotted area) beeu formed ? Does 
this represent a cutting or a filling? Does this operation and that in your answer to question 4 tend to 
increase or decrease the size of the meander ? 

6. Examine the other bends on the sheet and tell how they compare with Rowdy Bend in (1) loca¬ 
tion of current line and (2) cutting and filling. 

7. Are these changes in the course of the river of sufficient importance to navigation to make new 
surveys necessary? Why more necessary in the Mississippi thau in the Amazon or Congo? 

S. Read the note printed in red on the side of the map. When was the first survey for the map 
made, and how shown on the map? How long afterwards was the river here again surveyed, and how 
is the position of the new channel showu? . 

0. Note the location of the red bank line on the east side of Georgetown Bend. How wide a strip 
of land was cut away at this beud? How long did it take the river to do this cutting? How wide a 
strip is yet to be cut away before the river will go across the neck, thus forming a cut-off? At the 
same rate as the previous cutting, when would this cut-off occur? 

10. At which of the bends has the outer bank of the river beeu cut back the farthest? How far? 
What danger threatens the plantations located on the outside of these bends? How has Greenville 
been affected by the meanderings of the river? 

11. Find the oxbow lakes Chicot and Lee. Tell how they were formed. 

Advanced Questions. 12. Explain why no steamboat landings are on the inside of the bend. Make 
an ideal seetiou across the river at Rowdy Bend, showing the relative depth of water from bank to bank. 

13. Do you think another survey should soon be made? Why ? 

14. How would straightening the course of the river affect its velocity, and what effect would this 
have upon the prevention of floods and the amount of work the river could do? 

Make longitudinal profiles of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River on a horizontal scale of 
1 cm. = 100 mi., and a vertical scale of 1 cm. = 1000 ft. 


MISSISSIPPI RIVER MISSOURI RIVER 


Stations 

Distance from 

Moith 

Altitude 

Stations 

Distance from 

Mocth 

Altitude 

Mouth .... 
Ohio River 

Minnesota River . 
Minneapolis . 

Lake Itasca . 

0 miles 

1100 miles 

1040 miles 

1950 miles 

2300 miles 

0 feet 
270 feet 
090 feet 
795 feet 
1460 feet 

Mouth .... 
Bismarck 

Ft. Benton 

Great Falls . 

Three Forks . 

0 miles 

1240 miles 

2075 miles 

2100 miles 

2340 miles 

395 feet 
1620 feet 
2170 feet 
3300 feet 
4000 feet 


64 





















CALIFORNIA. CUCAMONGA SHEET 


Purpose. To study alluvial cones. 

Description of the Region. The region represented by this sheet is in southern California and shows 
a portion of the southern slopes and outwashings of the San Bernardino Mountains. 

Questions. 1. What part of the sheet shows the San Bernardino Mountains ? The plain? 

2. Do the contours show that the mountains have been little or much worn by streams ? How 
shown ? What do the contours show to be the general character of the surface of the plain ? 


3. Where does the grade of the streams that come down from the mountains change from steep to 
gentle? Where, therefore, do they begin to deposit their load of rock waste? 

What is this deposit called ? 

4. In what general direction do the contours on the plain extend? Where they pass the mouth of 
Deer and San Antonio canyons, do they loop or bend toward, or away from, the mountains? 

What does this indicate ? 

5. How do the contours show that these deposits are highest in the middle, or cone-shaped? 

Where are the cones the broadest? Where narrowest? 

6. What becomes of these mountain streams when they reach the apex of the cone? Therefore, of 
what material are the cones composed? 

What is the probable origin of the streams that begin between the towns of Pomona and Ontario, 
and flow southward ? 

7. How do the dry divided channels of the streams across the cones show the distribution of the 
sediment? Add a sketch to your description. 


8. Considering towns, wagon roads, etc., how does the population of a strip close to the base of the 
mountains compare with one a few miles away? Give a reason for this. 


66 














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ILLINOIS. OTTAWA SHEET 


Purpose. To study a region of immature surface drainage. 

Description of the Region. This region lies in the north-central part of the state along the Illinois 
River. The ground moraine of the ice sheet was spread very evenly over the surface, and the relief that 
has developed since the glacial period has been largely due to the work of streams. 

Location and Extent. 1. On which side of the Illinois River is the largest area that contains very 
few contours ? What direction is this from the town of Ottawa ? To what geographic district does this 
region belong? 

2. What is the scale of miles of the sheet? How many miles north from the Illinois River valley 
does the level prairie extend ? How far west from the Fox River valley ? Then about how many square 
miles in this immature drainage region ? 

Relief and Drainage. 3. What is the contour interval, and does this interval suggest little or much 
relief? What is the meaning of the three closed-curve contours on this prairie? Judging from the size 
of the area encircled by each of these contours, do you think that the higher parts of the prairie are very 
conspicuous, and why do you think so? Do you think that the lower places between these elevations are 
10 feet below the heavy contours, and why ? 

4. The water that drains off from this prairie reaches what stream on the south ? The east? The 
north? The west? What is the difference in altitude between the central part of this prairie and the 
Illinois River? The Fox River about 2 \ miles above the town of Dayton? Buck Creek at a point 
about J mile above the word “ Buck”? Pecumsaugan Creek, where it turns abruptly westward? 

5. Along which of the above streams, those with deep valleys or those with shallow ones, has the 
margin of this prairie been most roughened by ravines and gorges ? Along which streams will the pro¬ 
cess of roughening the surface of the prairie proceed most rapidly, and why ? As the drainage becomes 
more mature, how will the relief of this prairie change? 

Culture. 6. To what occupation is this prairie well adapted? Find the annual rainfall here, and 
tell whether it is sufficient for farming. Is the percentage of run-off here large or small, and how can 
you tell? 

7. In what directions do the wagon roads on the prairie extend? How far can one travel in a 
north-south road without going up hill or down more than 10 feet? How far on an east-west road? Do 
you think the roads here are level or hilly, and why ? 

8. What near-by market do the farmers have for their surplus produce? When they have more 
than enough to supply this market, how may they send it farther ? 

Advanced Questions. 9. If this prairie has immature drainage, explain the absence of lakes and 
swamps. 

10. Has the region south of the Illinois River valley a greater or a less relief than the prairie north 
of the valley ? Give a probable reason. 

11. In what way does the work of rivers affect the relief of an elevated smooth region ? 

12. Make a north-south sea-level profile along the township line on the east side of the townships of 
Utica and Waltham, beginning at the Illinois and Michigan Canal and going as far as the cross-section 
paper will permit. Use standard scale. 


68 


PICTURE SUPPLEMENT — OTTAWA 


Find on the map the location of each of the places shown in the following pictures. 



A. Looking north across the prairie, from the top of a windmill tower two thirds of a mile west of 
Dayton. The field showing obscurely at the right of the barn roofs is asparagus — grown for the 
Chicago market; beyond it is a cornfield with a rotting straw stack in the middle. 

1. Describe the general appearance of the surface of the land. 

2. Why do some farmers here need to spend hundreds of dollars in tile-draining their land? 

3. Describe the farm buildings and surroundings at the left of the center of the picture. 



B. looking north from the bridge at Dayton. The Fox River and banks only can be seen ; the 
Valley sides are at the left and the right, outside the picture. The remnants of a dam appear some 
distance up stream. On the map observe the canal into which the water was turned by the dam. 

4. What vegetation covers the banks of the river ? 

5. What material composes the bed of the stream? 

Does this indicate a swift or a slow stream? 

6. As far as you can see up stream, does the water seem smooth or rough? Does this mean steep 
or gentle slope ? 


69 

















C. The east bank of the Fox River, below Dayton bridge, but showing just such a bank as appears 
at the east of picture B, in the distance. The rock is St. Peter’s Sandstone. 

7. Describe the results of the water’s work on the rock. 

8. Does the water seem to have worn more at its present low stage, or at the flood stage, when it 
rises as high as the bushes ? 



D. Looking southwest from near the top of the east side of the Fox valley one mile soutli of Day- 
ton. The smoke and spires of Ottawa are visible in the distance. 

9. What vegetation appears on the valley side at the left ? 

10. What reason have you for supposing that the fields west of the river were formerly covered 
with forest? 

11. Which side of the valley seems to have the steeper slope? 


Look at the topographic map and see if it is so. 

70 






































NORTH DAKOTA-MINNESOTA. FARGO SHEET 


j 


Purpose. To study the characteristics of a newly made lake plain. 

Description of the Region. The area shown on this map is a typical part of the plain drained by the 
Red River of the North. During the glacial period, this area was covered by the waters of Lake Agas¬ 
siz long enough to receive a deep deposit of clays and sands brought into this lake by the muddy 
streams from the melting ice sheet. When the ice sheet disappeared, the water drained off into Hud¬ 
son Bay, leaving the smooth floor of the lake exposed to the action of weathering and erosion. 

Location and Extent. 1. In what states does this region lie? To what geographic district does it 
belong ? How many square miles of the region are shown on the map ? 

Relief and Drainage. 2. Do the contours indicate much or little relief ? 

3. State the general altitude of the region in the vicinity of Red River at the northern and at the 
southern border of the map. What is its average slope per mile? In what direction ? 

4. Name the four largest rivers. What is the general direction of their flow? Why? 


5. Are their channels straight or meandering ? Why ? 

6. Are the stream valleys wide or narrow ? Deep or shallow ? 

7. Are the tributary valleys few or numerous ? Explain the meaning of the scallops in the 900- 
foot contour along the Red River just north of Fargo. 


8. Are the divides flat, or formed into ridges and hills ? Why are they in this form at present ? 

9. What do the number and depth of stream valleys, the shape of the divides, and the geueral re¬ 
lief of the region show about the length of time weathering and erosion have been affecting this region ? 

Culture. 10. How thoroughly has the topography of this area permitted the Land Survey to carry 
out its rectangular plan for wagon roads ? 

11. What advantages does this area offer for the construction of railroads? 

12. What is the annual rainfall of this region? What industry does nature invite here? 


72 






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. 


. 




















MARYLAND-VIRGINIA. WICOMICO SHEET 


Purpose. To study a portion of tlie Atlantic Coastal Plain near “ Tidewater Virginia. ” 

Description of the Region. This region with its broad tidal rivers and immature drainage is char¬ 
acteristic of the country around Chesapeake Bay and along much of the coast south of New York. The 
surface was formerly smooth and sloped gently toward the ocean. Beneath the surface are many 
layers of rock waste consisting of sand, gravel, marl, fuller’s earth, etc. 

Location and Extent. 1. Along what large river is this region situated ? To what geographic dis¬ 
trict does it belong ? 

2. What is the scale of miles? How wide is the Wicomico River at Stoddard Point? Is this an 
average width for the river? 

Relief and Drainage. 3. Where, on the sheet, is the land represented as near sea level ? Where is 
the highest land, and what is its altitude ? 

4. Do any contours cross the Wicomico River ? What does this indicate as to its grade? 

Have the streams in Zekiali and Gilbert swamps steep or gentle grades, and how can you tell ? 

5. Note the land (divide) between Zekiah and Gilbert swamps. How wide is it at Dentsville ? 

How high above the swamps is the crest of the divide at this place ? Is the crest higher or lower 
toward the south ? 

6. Are the contours on this divide straight or crooked ? Does this indicate a smooth or a rough 
surface ? What has caused this ? 

7. Is the crest of the divide (where the wagon road is located) as rough as the slopes on either 
side? Why? 

Culture. 8. Is the rectangular plan of wagon roads followed here ? Give a reason. 

9. Does the location of railroads show that the valleys or the divides afford better facilities for 
traffic ? 

10. The wagon road northward from Pope Creek village (mouth of Pope Creek) goes directly over 
the divide. Why does not the railroad follow a similar course ? 

Profile. 11. A. Make a sea-level profile from Pope Creek village northward along the wagon 
road to Bel Alton, using standard scale. Mark with letter B where bridges were probably built. 

B. Make profile between same two places along the railroad. Mark with a C places where cuts 
were probably made and with an F vffiere fills were probably made. 

Advanced Questions. 12. Why is the Wicomico River so wide in proportion to its length ? 

Why is there so much marsh (salt and fresh) in this region ? 

13. If this entire region should sink a hundred feet below its present level, w r hat w T ould be the effect 
upon Zekiah and Gilbert swamps ? What present contour w’ould then mark the river’s banks ? 

How would these rivers then compare with the present condition of Wicomico River ? 


74 


WEST VIRGINIA. CHARLESTON SHEET 


Purpose. To study a region of mature surface drainage. 

Description of the Region. The region about Charleston, West Virginia, is typical of a broad strip 
of land lying along the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. The Kanawha River divides this 
plateau strip into two sections: the section north is called the Allegheny Plateau, and that south, the 
Cumberland Plateau. The rock consists of nearly horizontal layers of sedimentary origin. Workable 
layers of coal are found among the layers of rock. 

Location and Extent. 1. Give the location of this region. To what geographic district does it 
belong? 

2. What is the exact and the approximate scale of the sheet? What part of a degree wide? How 
does the area of this sheet compare with that of the sheets previously studied? 

Relief and Drainage. 3. What is the contour interval, and what relief does the use of such an in¬ 
terval suggest? Are the contours crowded together or well spaced apart, and what does this indicate as 
to the steepness of slopes? Are the contours grouped in spots or evenly distributed over the sheet? 
How, then, do different localities compare in amount of relief? 

4. What is the name of the river that occupies the largest valley on this sheet? Which tributary 
drains the largest area on the sheet ? 

5. Is any portion of this region a mile square without streams ? Are the divides broad or narrow ? 
What do these facts show concerning the drainage of this region (mature or immature) ? 

6. The altitude of the top of the Kanawha valley at Lock No. 4 is about 1400 feet. How deep is 
the valley here? At Lock No. 7 the top of the hills along the valley have an altitude of about 1000 feet. 
What is the depth of the valley here? How wide is the bottom of the valley (the flood plain) at Lock 
No. 6? 

7. How was the broad, deep valley of the Kanawha made? As the small valleys become deeper, 
will the relief become greater or less ? 

8. Does the fact that the Kanawha River has a broad flood plain indicate a steep or a gentle grade? 
What is the total descent of the Kanawha River between Locks Nos. 4 and 7? The distance between 
these locks is about 25 miles ; what is the grade per mile ? 

Culture. 9. What is the annual rainfall of West Virginia? Give reasons why you think this 
region is, or is not, good for farming. As forests cover these rugged hills, what industry has probably 
developed here? What mining industry is carried on among the hills? 

10. Do the wagon roads follow the rectangular plan? Give a reason for the fact. Are the roads 
in valleys or on divides? 

Advanced Questions. 11. Do you think the percentage of run-off in this region is small or large, 
and why? 

12. If this region was formerly smooth, as the very even height of the hilltops indicate, why is it 
now so rough ? After the drainage of a region has become mature, what work may the streams con¬ 
tinue to do? 


76 













































































PICTURE SUPPLEMENT —CHARLESTON 



The picture shows a part of the Allegheny Plateau lying east of the Charleston region. 

1. Does the river here have a straight or a winding course? 

2. Are the sides of the valley steep or gentle? 

Are they too steep for trees to grow on them? 

3. Has the valley a broad or a narrow flood plain? 

4. Are the tops of the hills (the sky line) even or uneven? 

How have these hills been made ? 

5. What must have been the condition of this whole region before the river cut its valley? 

6. Where are the roads located? 

Why there? 


78 































































































KANSAS. CALDWELL SHEET 


Purpose. To study a region in the central part of the Great Plains. 

Description of the Region. The region represented on this sheet typifies a broad strip of country, 
somewhat deficient in rainfall, lying east of the Rocky Mountains. The softness of the rock and the 
climatic conditions have combined to bring the river valleys to an advanced stage of development. 

Location and Extent. 1. In what part of Kansas is this region located? To what geographic dis¬ 
trict does it belong ? 

2. What is the scale of miles ? How does this scale compare with a scale of 1 to 62,500 ? How wide 
a strip of country is shown on this sheet ? 

Relief and Drainage. 3. What is the contour interval, and does it suggest a region of little, of mod¬ 
erate, or of great relief? "What relief is indicated by the railroads crossing the country without regard 
to hills and valleys? 

4. Do you find the contours grouped together in spots, or are they very evenly spaced over the sheet, 
and does this indicate uniform or variable slope? Do you find many small closed-curve contours? 
Therefore, are there many hilltops here? 

5. Are the courses of the larger streams on the sheet straight or winding? Do contours follow 
closely along the sides of the streams, or is there considerable space between them and the river? Does 
this show a narrow or a broad flood plain ? Are the contours on the slopes of the valley sides close 
together, as on the La Salle sheet, or are they well spaced? What kind of slope does this fact indicate? 
As you approach the river is it easy to determine where the valley sides begin? Then would you 
classify these valleys as “ open valleys ” or as gorges ? 

6. Find where the 1200-foot contour crosses the Chikaskia River, also where the next heavy 
contour up stream crosses it. How many feet of descent does the river have between these two points? 
Measure as accurately as possible the length of the river between these points and determine the grade 
per mile. 

7. Notice the divide between Chikaskia River and Bluff Creek where a branch of the Missouri 
Pacific Railroad crosses it. What town is located on the crest of the divide ? How high above the 
Chikaskia River is the town? 

8. Does the spacing of the contours indicate a steep or a gentle slope from the town to the river? 
What kind of slope is indicated by the course of the railroad? Do the contours show that the crest of 
the divide is sharp or rounded? How do the other divides on the sheet compare with this in general 
shape ? 

9. What is the annual rainfall of this region ? Are there many or few intermittent streams, and 
what does this indicate as to the frequency of rains? 

Culture. 10. The small relief of this region admits of what plan of wagon roads ? Has the relief 
influenced the direction of the railroads ? 

11. How many towns are on this sheet? How many lines of railroad? Is the sheet well covered 
with wagon roads? Do these facts show that this part of the Great Plains is well populated? 

Advanced Questions. 12. Give the different characteristics of this region that point to an advanced 
stage of development. 

13. What change would take place in the relief of this region if the annual rainfall should be 
doubled ? 

14. Make a sea-level profile along the Missouri Pacific Railroad from Freeport to Elwell; make 
horizontal scale same as sheet, and vertical scale 1 cm. = 200 feet, which gives the same vertical exag¬ 
geration as the standard scale. 


80 






















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COLORADO. LAMAR SHEET 


Purpose. To study irrigation. 

Description of the Region. The region represented on this sheet is in the southeastern part of 
Colorado, about 100 miles east of Pueblo. A number of natural sinks occur here, probably caused 
by water making caverns in the easily dissolved rock, such as rock salt, gypsum, lime, etc., and the 
roof caving in. These sinks may be recognized by the presence of shallow lakes which usually go dry 
during the summer. 

Questions. 1. What river crosses the sheet? Which way does it flow? Does it have many 
or few tributaries? 

Do you find many streams on other portions of the sheet? Do these small streams flow all 
the year? 

2. Find the annual rainfall of this region. In what way does this account for the number of 
streams here? 

Does the amount of rainfall seem sufficient for crops? For raising cattle and sheep? 

3. Notice the irrigation canals. Follow the course of the Colorado and Kansas Canal. Why 
was its course made so crooked ? 

At w T hat altitude does it leave the river? How high above the river is it at the edge of the 
sheet ? Does the water in it flow faster or slower than that in the river ? Why ? 


4. What land can be successfully irrigated by this canal? 

What land can be successfully irrigated by the canals on the southern side of the river? 

5. Notice the Arkansas Valley Canal. As this begins in the same river, how does it happen that 
it is so much higher up the valley side than the Colorado and Kansas Canal ? 

What two reservoirs are used for storing water along this canal? Why are they needful? 


What land can be successfully irrigated by this canal ? 

6. What part of this region seems to be most thickly settled? What is the probable reason? 
What change in the productiveness of this region is made possible by irrigation? 


82 



















ARIZONA. KAIBAB SHEET 


Purpose. To study a high plateau region. 

Description of the Region. This region belongs to a series of plateaus west of the Rocky Mountains. 
These plateaus are vast blocks of uplifted rock, of which the Kaibab Plateau is one of the highest. 
The bed rock consists mainly of nearly horizontal layers of sandstone, limestone, and shale. 

Location and Extent. 1. In what part of Arizona is this portion of the Grand Canyon of the 
Colorado River ? To what geographic district does it belong ? 

2. How wide and how long is the sheet in degrees? What is the scale of miles? How does 
this compare with a scale of ? ysfctaff ? 

Relief and Drainage. 3. What is the contour interval, and what kind of relief does this indicate? 

4. Find four plateaus with names. Locate each with respect to the Colorado River, and give the 
altitude of the highest heavy contour on each. Are the tops of these plateaus smooth or rough? 

5. What is the altitude of the bottom of the Colorado Canyon in the central portion of the sheet 
as shown by the heavy contour close along the river? How far below the top of Powells Plateau is it? 

6. Note the two groups of closely spaced contours on each side of the Colorado River between Kanab 
and Cataract creeks. The outer groups indicate the sides of the old, or outer, valley and the others the 
new, or inner, valley. How high above the river is the top of the inner valley? How high is the 
top of the outer valley above the inner gorge? What is the total depth, then, of the Grand Canyon 
here? How wide is the outer valley here? 

7. What is the annual rainfall of this region? Why are so many gorges without water during a 
large part of the summer ? 

8. What soon becomes of the water that issues from such springs as Mangum Spring and Big 
Spring? Why should springs be so carefully mapped in a region like this? 

Culture. 9. Do you find many wagon roads, railroads, towns, and other signs of human activity in 
this region ? Give a reason for this condition. 

Profile. 10. Use the following data to construct a sea-level profile across the Grand Canyon at 
a place near the mouth of Cataract Creek. The horizontal scale is 1 in. = 1 mi.; make the vertical scale 
1 cm. = 2000 ft. This gives a profile with practically no vertical exaggeration. The first line gives 
distance from starting point in centimeters, and the second line gives altitude of each station in feet. 
Make the river channel 4 mm. wide and 25 ft. deep. 


Cm. 

.0 

1.8 

1.9 

2.6 

2.8 

7.4 

7.6 

8.2 

9.0 

9.4 

9.6 

14.3 

14.4 

14.9 

15.0 

17.0 

Alt. 

6250 

6250 

5750 

5500 

5000 

4000 

3000 

2000 

2000 

3000 

4000 

5000 

5500 

5750 

6250 

6250 


Advanced Questions. 11. If scale of miles is taken as the indication of economic importance, how 
does this region compare with the others you have studied ? 

12. Explain why the Colorado River has been able to cut so deep a channel here. 

13. Why are springs more abundant on the side of Kaibab Plateau than elsewhere on the sheet? 

14. On which plateau would a ranchman be most likely to find grazing and forests ? Why? 

15. Small tributary valleys to the Grand Canyon are more numerous along the front of the Kaibab 
Plateau than elsewhere. Give a reason for this. 

16. Make a longitudinal profile of the Colorado-Green River, using the following data. In the 
horizontal scale have 1 cm. = 100 mi., and in the vertical scale have 1 cm. = 2000 ft. 


Stations 

Distance from Mouth 

Altitude above Mouth 

Mouth.. 

0 miles 

0 feet 

Second Sta. 

600 miles 

1000 feet 

Third Sta.. 

900 miles 

3200 feet 

Fourth Sta. 

1430 miles 

4750 feet 

Fifth Sta.. 

1650 miles 

6250 feet 

Source. 

1800 miles 

7800 feet 


84 



























































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PENNSYLVANIA. HARRISBURG SHEET 


Purpose. To study a portion of the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania. 

Description of the Region. The region represented on this sheet is typical of the northern Appa¬ 
lachian Mountains. The ridges are the upturned edges of durable sandstones and conglomerates, while 
the valleys between them have been made in weaker limestones and shales. 

Location and Extent. 1. In what part of Pennsylvania is this region located? To what system of 
mountains does it belong? 

Relief and Drainage. 2. What is the contour interval? Are the contour lines spread evenly over 
the sheet, or are they grouped, and what does this indicate as to the relief in different places? 

3. Name the four prominent ridges shown on the sheet east of the Susquehanna River, and give the 
elevation of the highest heavy contour on each. About how many miles apart are the crests of the ridges ? 

4. Do the contours on the sides of the ridges run nearly straight, or are they crooked; and does this 
indicate smooth or rough slopes? Do many or few streams flow down the sides of these ridges from the 
crest, and have they cut deep gorges ? Are the tops of the ridges composed of sharp peaks, or is the crest 
line nearly smooth ? Draw 7 a line on your paper to represent the crest line of Second Mountain. 

5. What direction has the Susquehanna River with respect to the direction of the ridges ? r I hrough 
how many ridges shown in the figure below has the river cut water gaps? 

6. How deep is the water gap at Second 
Mountain? IIow wide is the gap at the top 
(at 1200 foot contour) ? How wide at the 
bottom ? Is the river wider or narrower at 
this gap than either above or below it? 
Give a reason for this. 

7. What direction do the tributaries of 
the Susquehanna River have with respect to 
the direction of the ridges? In what kind 
of rock are these streams working? What 
is the grade per mile of Stony Creek from 
Watertank to Ellendale ? What is the grade 
of the Susquehanna from the water gap 
at Second Mountain to just below Sheets 
Island ? 

Culture. 8. What is the name of the 
principal city on the sheet, and what is its 
political relation to the state? How high 
above the river are the capitol buildings 
(center of city)? 

9. Is the rectangular plan of wagon 
roads followed on this sheet ? Give a 
reason. How are the railroads influenced 
by the relief? Name portions of this region 
that are suitable for farming. 

Profile. 10. Make a sea-level profile 
across the ridges from the “P” in the name 
Powell Creek (near Powell Valley) to the 
“P” in Paxton Creek, using only the con¬ 
tours in the valleys and on the crests of the 
ridges. Use a vertical scale of 1 cm. = 2000 feet, which gives nearly true proportions. 

Advanced Questions. 11. Is the course of the Susquehanna independent of, or dependent upon, the 
direction of the ridges? Give reason for your answer. What must have been the relief of this region 
w T hen the river first took its present course? 

12. Why are the crests of these ridges so even, instead of being rough like the Rocky Mountains? 
What evidences do you find that these ridges are being destroyed? (See figure.) 

86 






















COLORADO. ANTHRACITE SHEET 


Purpose. To study a portion of the Rocky Mountains. 

Description of the Region. The region represented on this sheet contains no large range of moun¬ 
tains, but is fairly typical of Rocky Mountain topography. Sedimentary rock abounds, and the upturned 
edges of the more resisting layers form such peaks as Garfield, Peeler, and Mt. Emmons. Outflows of 
lava are plentiful, and such mountains as Carbon, Axtell, Gothic, and Marcellina are of igneous origin. 
Lava pouring up through long fissures in the sedimentary rock has formed Anthracite and Ruby ranges. 
The drainage belongs to the Gunnison-Grand-Colorado River. 

Location and Extent. 1. In what part of Colorado is this region located? To what mountain sys¬ 
tem does it belong? 

2. What is the scale of miles? How far from the top of Mt. Carbon to the top of Mt. Axtell? 
From Mt. Carbon to Mt. Emmons? 

3. What does the use of this large scale indicate as to the economic importance of this region? 
Give names of places on the sheet that point to various mining activities. 

Relief and Drainage. 4. What is the contour interval? Why is it necessary to have a greater in¬ 
terval than on the Harrisburg sheet? Give the greatest altitude of Anthracite Range and of Ruby 
Range. 

5. Do the different ranges and ridges on this sheet extend in the same direction ? How does the 
arrangement here compare with the Appalachian ridges on the Harrisburg sheet? Are the crests of 
the Ruby and Anthracite ranges even or uneven ? Draw a line across your paper that you think repre¬ 
sents the crest of Ruby Range, and mark the positions of five high peaks. How does this line compare 
with the crest line of Second Mountain in Pennsylvania? 

6. As you look over the sheet, does it appear that the streams have done little or much work of 
erosion? How can you tell? What streams have cut deep gorges in parts of this region? 

Profile. 7. Make a sea-level profile from the top of Gothic Mountain to the top of Peeler Peak, 
using a vertical scale of 1 cm. = 2000 ft., which gives a profile with but little vertical exaggeration. Name 
the different parts of the profile. 

Culture. 8. How well is the region supplied with wagon roads? Where have they been located to 
secure easy grades? 

9. How many railroads have been built here? What purpose do they serve? 

Advanced Questions. 10. Notice the large number of open valleys or basins on the flanks of the 
ranges. These at one time contained glaciers, and are known as glacial cirques. What characteristics 
do they have that lead you to think they once contained glaciers? 

11. Some of these basins are good examples of hanging valleys. One may be seen just north of 
Cascade Mountain, containing three steps. Two of the levels contain lakes. What is the difference 
in their altitude? How high is the lower lake above the level next below it? Sketch a longitudinal 
profile of this whole valley, showing the different steps. Explain how this valley may have been formed. 

12. Locate other hanging valleys. 


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CALIFORNIA. SHASTA SPECIAL SHEET 


Purpose. To study a young, but inactive, volcano. 

Description of the Region. Mt. Shasta, a typical young volcano, is near the southern end of the 
Cascade Mountains. The secondary cone, Shastina, is of more recent origin than Mt. Shasta proper, 
and still retains its crater except on the western side, where a lava outflow carried away the rim. 

Location and Extent. 1. In what part of California is Mt. Shasta? To what range of mountains 
does it belong? Give as nearly as possible the latitude and longitude of the top of Mt. Shasta. 

2. What is the scale of miles? What is the distance from the top of Mt. Shasta to the top of 
Shastina? IIow long is the Sisson Southern Trail, leading from the Southern Pacific Railroad to 
the top of Mt. Shasta ? 

Relief and Drainage. 3. What is the contour interval? Does this interval indicate a region of small 
or of great relief? Of gentle or of steep slopes? What shape do the contours show the volcano to have? 

4 How does the closeness of the contours near the top of Shasta compare with those near the base, 
and, therefore, how does the steepness of slope near the top compare with that near the base ? 

5. What is the altitude of Mt. Shasta? Of Shastina? How many feet high must one climb going 
from Sisson to the top of Mt. Shasta? What is the average grade per mile? 

6. What two kinds of volcanic material have built up the cone of Mt. Shasta as shown by the names 
on different parts of the volcano? Have the small cones been roughened by stream action? Does this 
fact show that they are young or old? 

7. On which side of Shasta are the streams most abundant? Least abundant? Which of these 
streams has the lai’gest valley ? How deep is this gorge where the 6000-foot contour crosses the stream ? 
Why do some streams, such as Panther Creek and Inconstance Creek, have a continuous flow in the upper 
part of their courses and then become intermittent or entirely lost farther down? 

Culture. 8. Are there many wagon roads and trails on Mt. Shasta? Why ? Explain why the rail¬ 
road has such a winding course. 

Profile. 9. Mt. Shasta is too broad to permit a complete profile on the scale of the map. The fol¬ 
lowing west-east approximate data are given on a reduced scale. Use a vertical scale of 1 cm. = 5000 ft., 
which gives a slope with little exaggeration. Label the two summits. 


Distance from 
Starting Point, 
in Centimeters 

Altitude, 
in Feet 

Distance from 
Starting Point, 
in Centimeters 

Altitude, 
in Feet 

0 

4,000 


14,380 

1 

4,300 

9 

12,000 

2 

5,000 

10 

10,000 

3 

5,700 

11 

8,500 

4 

0,400 

12 

7,500 

5 

8,000 

13 

6,400 

6 

10,000 

14 

5,500 

7 

12,433 

15 

4,800 

74 

12,000 

17 

4,000 


90 












BOWLDER CLAY, OR TILL 


Purpose. To study the composition and properties of the rock waste in a glacial moraine. 

Material. A piece of unweathered bowlder clay, a small test tube, a piece of glass, water, hydro¬ 
chloric acid, a blotter, a hand magnifier. 

1. What is the color of the lump of dry clay? 

2. Is it firm, or does it easily fall to pieces? 

3. What do you see in the lump besides the very fine clay? 

Put a half teaspoonful of the clay into a test tube half full of water, cover the end of the test tube 
with your thumb, in vert, and shake gently until the particles are thoroughly separated and suspended in 
the water. Stand the test tube aside for a few minutes until the suspended particles begin to settle. 

4. Does the fine material, or the coarse, settle first? 

5. About what fraction of the material is very fine? 

To get the fine clay and coarse grains of the lump separated so that you can see them more easily, 
put a lump the size of a pea on a piece of glass. On it drop three or four drops of water. Crush the 
lump with your finger and rub it up in the water, adding a few more drops, if necessary, to make a thin 
mud. Tilt the glass a little and absorb in a blotter the mud that runs off. Let a few more drops of 
water run over the coarse grains till they are clean. Examine the grains with a magnifier. 

6. What different colors do you find in the grains? 

7. Are the grains regular, or irregular, in form? 

8. Which grains are affected by hydrochloric acid? What kind of rock are they? 

9. Put on the glass a little of the fine sediment caught on the blotter and test with hydrochloric 
acid. What mineral does the test show to be present in the fine sediment? 

10. As the fine sediment spreads out in the acid, does it seem uniform in composition, or like the 
coarse grains, composed of pieces differing in color and size? 

11. Do you find in unweathered bowlder clay remnants of decayed plants and animals — as in soil? 
Give a reason. 

12. What facts that you have observed indicate that the glacial clay was produced by the glaciers 
grinding firm rock to powder, and not by the atmospheric disintegration of rock ? 


91 











































































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THE STUDY OF PEBBLES 


Purpose. To learn how pebbles are formed. 

Material. Pieces of brick and soft rock the size of hen’s eggs and smaller, a strong glass jar with 
cover, specimens of weathered rock from beds of several kinds, some crystalline and some limestone 
pebbles from unweathered till, some round and some flat pebbles from the lake shore or stream bed. 

A. Experiment in Wear. 

To demonstrate the wearing away of rock fragments and the formation of rock waste, put some 
small pieces of soft rock and brick into a glass jar containing water. Fasten on the top and shake the 
jar vigorously. Pass it around the class; let each pupil give it a shake. 

Repeat till the effect is well marked. 

1. What changes take place in the appearance and size of the fragments? 

2. What causes these changes? 

3. What is the character of the material worn off ? 

B. Frost Broken and Air Weathered Pebbles. 

4. Is there any regularity in shape of these rock fragments? 

5. Is the surface rough or smooth? 

C. Glaciated Pebbles. 

6. Are these pebbles regular or irregular in shape? 

7. Count the planed faces you find on several rocks. What is the largest number you find on any 
one specimen? 

What is the smallest number? 

8. Is the surface of a face flat or uneven ? 

Is it smooth or rough ? 

9. The scratches seen on some specimens are called strife. What arrangement have they with 
reference to one another ? 

10. How do the very hard stones compare in their surface markings with those moderately soft ? 

D. Waterworn Pebbles. 

Note. In the glaciated region most of the water-worn pebbles have been washed from the till, and are therefore glaciated pebbles 
modified by wave or stream work. Observe the tendency toward two type forms, flat and rounded. 

11. How do the pebbles that take the thin, flat form differ in structure from those that take the 
round or ovoid form ? 

12. In what sort of motion would the round pebbles move up and down the beach ? or downstream? 
(Push them up and down your desk.) 

13. In what sort of motion would the flat pebbles move? 

14. What has become of the flat faces, striae, or rough angles that these pebbles had when they were 
glacial or frost-broken stones ? 


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CALIFORNIA. SHASTA SPECIAL SHEET 


Purpose. To study the glaciers on Mt. Shasta. 

Description of the Region. The snow-crowned peak of Mt. Shasta is very conspicuous in the scenery 
of northern California. The top, which reaches about 4000 feet above the timber line, is surrounded 
by several small glaciers. 

Questions. 1. What is the altitude of Mt. Shasta? Do you think that the precipitation at this 
altitude is rain, or is it snow? Why do you think so? Why, then, are glaciers found near the top? 


2. How many glaciers are located here ? Give name, location, and length of the longest; of the 
shortest. 


3. As strong southwest winds prevail here, where does most of the snow come to rest, and where do 
you find the largest glaciers? Give another reason for the location of the glaciers. 


4. At about what altitude do the glaciers on the northern side melt? 
Why the difference ? 


Those on the southern side? 


5. What different moraines are made by these glaciers? 

G. Name two glaciers that occupy well-formed valleys. What one spreads very broadly over the 
side of the mountain ? 

From the presence of moraines and high cliffs among the glaciers, what do you think the glaciers 
are doing to the mountains ? 

4 

Advanced Questions. 7. What are the sources of the water that forms many of the streams on Mt. 
Shasta ? Some of the stream beds are lined with pebbles, and others not. Why the difference? 


8. It is evident that snow falls on Shastina. 


Why does it not form into glaciers? 


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95 


































































































WISCONSIN. WHITEWATER SHEET 


Purpose. To study a glacial region. 

Description of the Region. During the last glacial invasion one lobe of the ice sheet came southward 
by way of Green Bay and Lake Oshkosh, and another by way of Lake Michigan. In southeastern Wis¬ 
consin these two lobes met and formed a kettle terminal moraine. A small part of this moraine extends 
in a northeast to southwest direction across the southern side of this sheet. The swampy area north of 
this moraine contains a number of drumlins that were formed underneath the Green Bay lobe. 

Location and Extent.- 1. Where is this region located ? To what geographic district does it belong? 

2. What is the scale of miles? What is the distance by railroad from 'Whitewater to Palmyra? 

By wagon road from Palmyra to Oak Hill? 

Relief and Drainage. 3. What is the contour interval? Where is the relief greatest? Least? 

A. The Terminal Moraine. 4. In what part of the sheet is the terminal moraine located ? In what 
direction does it extend? How was it formed? 

5. What is the altitude of the swamp in the central part of the sheet just north of the moraine? 
The altitude of the moraine is about 1000 feet; how much higher than the swamp is it? 

6. Is the surface of the moraine rough or smooth? How can you tell? 

The “kettles” are shown by depression contours. Are there few or many kettle holes? Give the 
depths of two or three of the deepest. Do they have any particular shape? (See picture of a kettle 
hole, p. 99.) 

7. Is the drainage of the moraine mature or immature ? Give a reason for this condition. 

B. The Drumlin Area. 8. About what fractional part of the region north of the moraine is swamp 
and what part hills ? Are there many or few drumlins here ? Under what glacial lobe were they formed ? 

9. What general shape have these drumlins? Which way do the long axes extend? Which way, 
therefore, did the glacier move ? 

Culture. 10. Mention some reasons for believing that the dry land of this region is well settled. 

11. Which of the lakes in this region do you think make good summer resorts? Which do not? 
Give your reasons. 


Advanced Questions. 12. Tell why you think this whole region has immature drainage. 


13. As drainage matures, how will the farm land increase in quantity? How will it improve in 
quality? Why? 


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PICTURE SUPPLEMENT —WHITEWATER 



This picture represents a kettle hole, such as those shown on the moraine in the southeastern part 
of the Whitewater sheet. 



This picture represents a drumlin such as those on the Whitewater sheet. 

1. Has this drumlin steep, or gentle, slopes? 

2. Does the drumlin appear much worn by water ? 

3. What does this fact show concerning its age ? 



99 





















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NEW YORK. WATKINS SHEET 


Purpose. To study a glacial lake and its immediate surroundings. 

Description of the Region. The long, narrow lakes in western New York, called Finger Takes from 
their resemblance to the fingers of the hand, were made by the deepening and widening of river valleys 
by glacial lobes moving southward from Lake Ontario. All these lakes have a common outlet through 
the Oswego River into Lake Ontario. 

Questions. 1. What is the average width of the part of Seneca Lake shown on the sheet? 
What is its altitude? 

2. What do the contours show as to the steepness of the shore on both sides of the lake? How 
high above the lake is the shore at a distance of about l mile from the lake? 

3. Look at several of the small streams that flow into the lake. In what part of their course is 
the grade the steepest ? 

The valleys of these streams are examples of hanging valleys. Sketch a longitudinal profile of 
the creek flowing through Reading Center on the west side of the lake. 


4. Does Watkins Glen Creek flow through a hanging valley? How can you tell? 

How deep is the glen where the railroad crosses it? 

(Pictures of the glen are common and show how the stream is cutting rapidly into the soft shale 
and sandstone of the region.) 

5. What becomes of the sediment brought into the lake by all these streams? How will the 
width and depth of the lake be affected by it? How many miles of the old lake bed at the southern 
end have become dry land ? 

6. What is the origin of the many points along the shore? Why are the largest points at the 
mouths of the largest streams ? 

7. What appears to be the future of Seneca Lake ? Why do you think so? 

8. Make a sea-level profile across the lake near the “a” in Seneca, extending it 2 or 3 miles back 
on to the upland at each side. Use a vertical scale of 1 cm. = 200 ft. What is the vertical 
exaggeration ? 


101 












































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NEW YORK. NIAGARA SHEET, OR NIAGARA FALLS AND VICINITY 


Purpose. To study Niagara River and Falls. 

Description of the Region. The region represented on this sheet lies between Lake Erie on the south 
and Lake Ontario on the north. The land consists mostly of two plains : (1) The lower plain extends 

from Lake Ontario south to Lewiston, where a line of bluffs runs nearly parallel with the lake; this 
bluff, or escarpment, was the shore of Lake Iroquois, the glacial enlargement of Lake Ontario. (2) The 
upper plain extends from this escarpment southward beyond the limits of the sheet. On the lower plain 
underneath a layer of lake silt is a thick layer of shale, and on the upper plain underneath the glacial 
drift is first a layer of limestone and then the soft shale that forms the bed rock of the lower plain. 

The Whirlpool is thought to have resulted from the Falls cutting into an old valley that had been 
filled with glacial drift. 

A very complete history of the Falls, together with many excellent maps and photographs, is given 
in Bulletin 45 on “ Niagara Falls and Vicinity, ” published by New York State Museum, Albany, N.Y. 

Location and Extent. 1. Locate Niagara Falls with reference to New York state and the Great 
Lakes. 

2. What is the scale of miles? What is the distance between the Falls and the Whirlpool? Between 
the Whirlpool and the foot of the gorge at Lewiston? How long, then, is the gorge? 

Relief and Drainage. 3. What is the contour interval? Give in the form of a table the altitudes 
of the following places: Lake Ontario, foot of the gorge at Lewiston, the Whirlpool, the foot of the 
Falls, the crest of the Falls. 

4. How many contours cross the river on this sheet above Goat Island, and what do they show about 
the grade of this part of the river ? What is the average grade per mile of the river from the head of 
Goat Island to foot of Falls ? From foot of Falls to mouth of gorge? From Lewiston to Lake Ontario ? 
Which one of these four parts of the Niagara River has the steepest grade? 

5. Has the river above the Falls a deep or a shallow valley, and how shown ? About how deep is the 
gorge near the foot of the Falls? Near the Whirlpool? How does the depth of the valley change from 
Lewiston to the Lake? 

6. The Falls are now retreating at the average rate of 41 feet per year. If this rate has been con¬ 
stant, how long has it taken the Falls to 
wear back from the edge of the escarpment 
at Lewiston ? At the same rate of retreat, 
how long before the Falls will be at the 
upper end of Goat Island and so combine 
the two parts? 

Culture. 7. Notice the canal that begins 
about a mile above the Falls and runs through 
the village of Niagara Falls. Tell what you 
can about the use of this and other similar 
canals on the Canadian side. Why are towus 
located around the Falls? 

Advanced Questions. 8. What condition 
of rock structure makes the sides of the gorge 
so steep? (See figure.) If the Falls began 
at Lewiston near the close of the glacial 
period, how long ago did that period end? 

9. Make a sea-level profile beginning at 
the southwest corner of the Indian Reserva¬ 
tion and going north 4 or 5 miles; for 
Niagara Falls and Vicinity, use standard 
scale; for Niagara sheet use vertical scale of 1 cm. = 200 ft. Another profile may be made from San¬ 
born to Ransomville to show the terraces due to the presence of thin layers of sandstone and limestone 
within the shale. 

10. Beginning at the same point on the cross-section paper, make one profile of the river from the 

103 






head of Goat Island to Lewiston, and another of the bank along the river between the two places. The 
difference between the profiles shows the amount of cutting that has been done by the Falls. 

11. From the following data, make a longitudinal profile of the St. Lawrence River, using a hori¬ 
zontal scale of lcm.= 100 miles, and a vertical scale of 1 cm. = 1000 ft. What will be the vertical 
exaggeration ? 


Stations 

Dist. from Mouth 

Alt. above Mouth 

Depth of Lakes 

Mouth. 

0 miles 

0 feet 


Three Rivers. 

500 miles 

0 feet 


Foot Lake Ontario. 

745 miles 

247 feet 

| 740 feet 

Mouth Niagara River. 

930 miles 

247 feet 

Foot Lake Erie. 

960 miles 

573 feet 

j 210 feet 

Head Lake Erie. 

1205 miles 

573 feet 

Foot Lake Huron. 

1305 miles 

580 feet 

j 700 feet 

Head Lake Huron. 

1568 miles 

580 feet 

Foot Lake Superior. 

1588 miles 

600 feet 

J1000 feet 

Head Lake Superior. 

2000 miles 

600 feet 

Source St. Louis River. 

2100 miles 

1400 feet 



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104 
























THE CHICAGO DISTRICT 


Purpose. To study the geography and the geology of the Chicago District. 

Material. I he Chicago Folio, No. 81, and the model of Chicago aud vicinity by Siebenthal. 

Note. The twelve maps in the folio are supposed to be numbered consecutively from 1 to 12, and reference 
will be made to them in this way. 

1. The Chicago District. Make a sketch map showing the location of the district with reference 
to Lake Michigan (see front outside cover). 

II. The Chicago Plain (see p. 1, col. 1). 1. Give its location and shape. 

2. La Grange (tig. 1 and map 1), Homewood, and Gleuwood (Fig. 1 and map 4) are on the outer 
edge of this plain. How many miles wide is the plain at each of these places? 

3. Is the plain fairly level, or hilly? (Maps 1 and 4.) 

4. What is the approximate altitude of the plain? (See heavy contour maps 1 and 4.) IIow high 
is the plain above Lake Michigan? (See figure in brown on the lake.) 

5. To what two causes is its flatness mainly due ? (P. 6, col. 2.) 

6. Vi hat superficial rock covers most of the plain? (Pgd. maps 6 and 8 and legend on side of 
maps.) 

7. What material forms the lakeward side of the plain? (Ps. maps 6 and 8.) 

8. What sedimentary rock outcrops in places over this plain ? (Sn. maps 6 and 8.) 

9. Among the most prominent elevations on the plain are Rose Hill (see top of map 6), Blue 
Island Ridge, and Stony Island Ridge (see top of map 8). Of what is each composed ? 

III. The Drainage of the Plain. 10. What river drains the northern and central parts of the plain? 
What river drains the southern part? What, the northwestern? (See p. l,cols. 3 and 4, and maps 1, 
2, and 4.) Into what larger body of water does each river flow? 

11. Do the lakes and marshes (maps 3 and 4) indicate a well-drained or a poorly drained plain? 
What is the stage of erosion ? 

12. Give the course and use of the Sanitary and Ship Canal —Drainage Canal (p. 1, col. 3, maps 
1, 2, and 3). 

IV. The Valparaiso Moraine. 13. Where is the Valparaiso moraine located? (Fig. 1.) 

14. Find its highest altitude four miles south of Lemont (map 3). How high above Lake Michigan 
is it here ? 

15. Locate each center from which ice sheets moved outward during the glacial period, and name 
each sheet (Fig. 6.) 

16. Notice the striae marked by arrows on the limestone outcrops (maps 5, 6, and 8). In what di¬ 
rection do they show the glacier was moving ? 

V. Lake Chicago. 17. How was Lake Chicago produced? (P. 7, col. 2.) 

18. Where was its outlet? (Fig. 7 and map 3.) 

19. What was the shape of the outlet? (P. 7, col. 2, and map 3.) 

20. Was the outlet cut down through the moraine and into the bed rock ? (Map 7.) 

21. Flow wide at the bottom, and how deep is the outlet at Lemont? (Map 3.) 

VI. Stages and Beaches of Lake Chicago. 22. Find Glenwood on map 8. What narrow deposit ex¬ 
tending northwest and southeast (Pb.) occurs here? This line marks the Glenwood Stage of Lake 
Chicago, and roughly follows the 640-foot contour. Turn to Fig. 7 and notice this former lake margin. 
Name the villages now located along it. How high above the present Lake Michigan was Lake Chicago 
at this stage? 

23. The Calumet Stage (named from the river) is marked by a broken blue line passing through 
South Harvey and Oak Glen. What deposit (Pb., map 8) lies along it? Turn to Fig. 11, and name 
the villages now located along this ancient beach line. 

24. The Tolleston Stage (named after Tolleston, Ind.) is also represented on map 8 by a broken 
blue line running from near Hammond to near Blue Island. Notice the heavy contour along this line, 
and give its height above Lake Michigan. Turning to Fig. 12, name the villages located along this 
ancient beach. 

25. Copy the map, Fig. 7, and add the Calumet and Tolleston beach lines, Figs. 11 and 12. Color 

105 


the present area of Lake Michigan blue, the three stages of Lake Chicago three shades of green, and the 
unsubmerged area brown. 

VII. Name the economic products of the district (pp. 12 and 13). 

VIII. Vertical Rock Section. The data for the vertical section have been generalized from a num¬ 
ber of deep wells in the vicinity of Chicago. Use paper 3 cm. wide and make the vertical scale 
1 cm. = 200 ft. Separate the layers of sedimentary rocks by lines across the section at the proper 
depth, but leave the lower end open, as the crystalline rock extends to great depth. The different for¬ 
mations may be colored or filled with the conventional design (see inside back cover of a Geological 
Folio). 


Name of Formation 


Thickness 


Glacial Drift 
Niagara Limestone 
Cincinnati Shale . 
Trenton Limestone 
St. Peter’s Sandstone 
Magnesian Limestone 
Potsdam Sandstone 
Crystalline Rock . 


SO feet 
320 feet 
200 feet 
320 feet 
340 feet 
300 feet 
1100 feet 
unknown depth 


Draw lines down this section representing the depth of the following wells: — 

Lincoln Park ......... 1200 feet deep 

Oak Park. 2200 feet deep 

Lehman Well. 2600 feet deep 

IX. Horizontal Rock Section. The sedimentary formations beneath Chicago come to the surface 
(outcrop) between Chicago and Grand Rapids, Wis. The data for this northward horizontal section 
have also been generalized in order to make the section as simple as possible. In the horizontal scale, 
let 1 cm. = 10 mi. and in the vertical scale 1 cm. = 500 ft. First draw a sea-level line on the cross- 
section paper, then lay off the^ scales. Locate dots for Chicago (altitude 600 feet) and for Grand 
Rapids 220 miles northward, where the crystalline rock outcrops (altitude 1000 feet), and connect these 
dots with a line. Along this surface line locate dots for the outcrops of each formation, and beneath 
Chicago locate dots for their altitude. Connect the corresponding dots, and label or color the different 
formations. 



Name of Formation 

Altitude of Under Side of 
Formation at Chicago 

Distance from Chicago of 
Under Side of Outcrop 

Niagara Limestone. 

Cincinnati Shale. 

Trenton Limestone .... 

St. Peter’s Sandstone .... 

Magnesian Limestone .... 

Potsdam Sandstone .... 

Crystalline Rock. 

200 feet 

0 feet 

— 320 feet 

— 660 feet 

— 960 feet 
— 2060 feet 
unknown depth 

70 miles 

85 miles 

105 miles 

122 miles 

140 miles 

220 miles 
unknown distance 


Represent the same three wells in this section. 


106 





























EXPERIMENTS WITH CITY GAS 


Purpose. To study a familiar gas to learn : — 

(1) Whether it has a color; 

(2) Whether it will burn; 

(3) Whether it will allow other substances to burn in it. 

Material. Pan of water, glass jar or bottle with wide mouth, a piece of cardboard or a glass plate to 
cover the jar, rubber tube, wire, matches, candle, supply of city gas. 

Operation and Result. Fill the jar with water, then, holding the glass plate carefully over its mouth, 
quickly place it upside down in the pan of water, and withdraw the glass plate. 

1. What now fills the jar? 

Connect the rubber tube with the gas jet, and, placing the other end under the mouth of the jar, 
allow the gas to run into it until all the water is driven from it. Turn off the gas, withdraw the tube, 
slip the glass plate again under the mouth of the jar, and, holding it firmly, lift out the jar and place it 
right side up on the table. 

2. What now fills the jar? 

3. What is the color of the gas ? 

Fasten a candle to a wire two or three feet long, and light it. Remove the glass plate and, by 
means of the wire, quickly lower the burning candle to the bottom of the jar, keeping the bauds a foot 
or more away from it. 

4. Does the gas burn ? 

5. Does the candle continue to burn? 

6. Explain the action of the candle. 

7. Write a sentence stating what you have learned about each of the three points given as the pur¬ 
pose of this experiment. 


Drawing. On the lower part of this page, draw the apparatus used, showing the results of lowering 
the candle into the jar. 


107 

































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EXPERIMENTS WITH OXYGEN 


Purpose. To prepare the gas oxygen and to learn: — 

(1) Whether it has a color; 

(2) Whether it will burn ; 

(3) Whether it will allow other substances to burn in it. 

Material. Large test tube, sodium peroxide, water, long splinter of wood or sticks of charcoal, 
picture wire, matches. 

Operation and Result. Fill the test tube about £ inch deep with sodium peroxide, and pour a little 
water on it. 

1. What happens in the tube? 

The cause of this is that the water acts chemically on sodium peroxide, setting oxygen gas free. 

2. What is the color of the gas given off? (Do not mistake the fine spray of water for oxygen.) 

3. Thrust a match or splinter, burning with a small flame, into the tube. What effect on the flame? 
Does the gas burn? 

4. Heat a charred splinter or a stick of charcoal until it glows, and then hold it in the tube. What 
occurs? 

5. Hold a glowing charcoal stick in the air a short time. What occurs? 

If necessary, renew vigorous action in the tube by pouring in a little more water. 

6. Fasten a small splinter in the end of a straight piece of picture wire. Light and hold in the tube. 
What occurs? 

7. Compare the action of oxygen with that of city gas. 


8. What advantages result from having the atmosphere composed partly of oxygen ? 

Drawing. On the lower part of this page, draw the apparatus, showing the result from operation 
number 4. 


109 




























































































EXPERIMENTS WITH NITROGEN 


Purpose. To secure a quantity of nitrogen gas from the atmosphere and to determine:— 

(1) Whether it has a color; 

(2) What proportion of the air it constitutes; 

(3) Whether it will burn ; 

(4) Whether it will allow other substances to burn in it. 

Material. Pyrogallic acid, six-inch test tube, glass dish half filled with water, matches, ruler, potas¬ 
sium hydroxide. 

Operation and Result. Dissolve a piece of pyrogallic acid, the size of a pea, in about a tablespoonful 
of water in a test tube. Add a tablespoonful of strong potassium hydroxide solution, and close the 
tube tightly with the thumb. 

1. What substances now fill the tube? 

2. Measure and state the depth of each. 

3. Shake the tube thoroughly for a short time, and, holding it upside down with its mouth below 
the surface of the water in the dish, remove the thumb. What does the water do ? 

The cause is that the acid absorbs the oxygen. The vacancy thus made is filled by the water 
pushed in by the pressure of the outside atmosphere. The gas left in the tube is nearly pure nitrogen. 
The small quantities of argon, water vapor, and carbon dioxide which are mixed with the nitrogen do 
not affect its color or the other characteristics investigated below. Replace the thumb over the mouth 
of the tube, take it from the dish, and hold it right side up. 

4. What is the color of nitrogen ? 

5. Measure, and state the depth of the gas. 

6. The nitrogen now left is about what proportion of the air caught at first in the tube? 

7. Removing the thumb, lower a burning match stick into the tube. Does the stick continue to 
burn ? 

8. Does the nitrogen burn? 

9. How does the action of nitrogen compare with that of city gas? 


10. Compare its action with that of oxygen. 


Drawing. 

first; also the 


On the lower part of this page, draw a test tube and indicate the depth of air in it at 
depth of nitrogen left from it. 


Ill 















































































EXPERIMENTS WITH CARBON DIOXIDE 


Purpose. To prepare carbon dioxide and to learn : — 

(1) Whether it has color ; 

(2) Whether it will burn ; 

(3) Whether it will allow other substances to burn in it; 

(4) How to use the test that distinguishes it from other gases. 

Material. Test tube, dilute hydrochloric acid, small pieces of marble, matches, rubber cork fitted 
with a short glass tube ending in a short rubber tube, bottle of limewater. 

Operation and Result. Put the marble in the test tube, and pour a little acid on it. 

1. What happens in the tube ? 

The cause of this is that the acid acts on the marble, setting carbon dioxide free. 

2. What is the color of the gas ? 

Lower a burning match stick into the gas. 

3. Does the stick continue to burn ? 

4. Does the gas burn ? 

5. Which of the three gases previously studied does carbon dioxide most resemble? 

If the reaction has ceased, add more acid. Place the cork with its connected tubing in the test tube, 
and let the free end of the rubber tube dip in the bottle of limewater. Allow the gas to bubble through 
it a short time. 

6. What happens to the limewater? 

This gas is the only one in the atmosphere that affects the color of limewater. 

7. Why is this test necessary to distinguish this gas from nitrogen ? 

8. What other test will distinguish this gas from oxygen? 

Drawing. On the lower part of this page, draw the entire apparatus used when trying the lime- 
water test. 


113 





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LIGHT. THE COLORS IN SUNLIGHT 


Purpose. To study the colors that compose white sunlight. 

Material. Glass prism, sheet of white cloth or paper, mirror, sunlight. 

Operation. Paste a piece of paper on one face of a prism and hold this face horizontally and upper¬ 
most in the sunlight. Instead of passing through the prism to the floor, the light will bend away, and 
can be made to fall on a piece of white cloth or paper hung on the opposite wall of the room. Instead 
of the white sunlight, it will furnish the colors of the rainbow. This is called the spectrum. The 
colors will appear brighter if the room is darkened, and a sunbeam is admitted through a hole in the 
shutter. 

1. What color appears at the bottom of the spectrum? At the top? 

2. Name all the colors you can see in the order in which they appear from the bottom to the top of 
the spectrum. 


3. Make a diagram to show the ray of sunlight passing 
through the prism and spreading out to form the colors on the 
screen. Which color has been bent the most from the original 
path of the sunbeam? Which color has been bent the least? 

4. Hold a hand mirror near the prism so as to reflect the 
spectrum on a wall or ceiling. Give a rapid vibrating motion to 

the mirror so that the spectrum moves to and fro very quickly in the direction of its length, and forms 
a streak of light. What is its color? What has become of the spectrum? 

5. Observe the sunrise and sunset colors, and report their arrangement. Which color of the spec¬ 
trum is below ? Explain. 


6. Observe the colors in a rainbow. Report the arrangement of colors, and the location of the sun 
and of the rainbow with regard to your position. Give drawings. 


LIGHT. ABSORPTION OF COLORS 

Purpose. To learu how some of the colors of the sunlight may be absorbed by passing through a 
substance or by being reflected from it. 

Material. Flat-sided bottle, soap solution, piece of smoked glass. 

Operation. Fill a flat-sided bottle with water in which laundry soap has been dissolved. Look 
through it toward the sunlight while slowly rotating it. 

1. What colors come through it to your eye? 

2. Hold the bottle toward some dark object, as the blackboard, so that the light is reflected from 
the soap solution to you. What is the color? 

3. Then what colors have been absorbed by the soap solution? 


The soap solution acts like the atmosphere in allowing one or two colors to pass through it easily, 
and in reflecting another color. 

115 


4. What seems to be the color of the sun when its light comes to us through a clouded or hazy sky ? 

5. Must the deep blue color of the northern sky be due to sunlight coming through it, or the reflec¬ 
tion from particles in the atmosphere ? 

6. Look toward the sun through the smoked glass. What is the sun’s color when seen through a 
part of the glass that has been heavily smoked? Lightly smoked? 

7. Does the sunlight, in reaching you, pass through more of the atmosphere’s smoke and dust at 
noon or at sunset ? 

What effect has this upon the color ? 


f 


116 


ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE 


Purpose. To determine whether the atmosphere exerts pressure. 

Material. A tin can with a small mouth, a cork to fit it, water, gas, burner, support, glass thistle 
tube with a short rubber tube attached, sheet of dentists’ rubber, string. 

Operation and Result. A. Put a little water in the can and support it over a lighted burner until 
the water has boiled vigorously for a few minutes. Turn out the burner and, at the same moment, close 
the can firmly with the cork. Allow the can to cool, and note what happens. The cooling may be 
hastened by sprinkling water on the can. 

1. Describe the result. 

2. What did the steam, rising from the surface of the water, do to the air in the can? 

3. When the can cooled, what became of the steam? 

4. What made the can collapse? 

5. Make a section drawing of the can -when the water was boiling. By 
means of arrows show the direction in w hich the steam moves within the can. 

B. Lay a sheet of dentists’ rubber over the mouth of a thistle tube, and tie it fast with a string. 

6. Blow into the tube. Is the dentists’ rubber pushed outw r ard or pulled outward ? 

7. With the mouth, draw' air out of the thistle tube, and pinch the attached rubber tube tightly to¬ 
gether. Is the dentists’ rubber pulled inw r ard or pushed inward? 

State why you think so. 

8. Still pinching the rubber tube tightly, turn the thistle tube in various directions. In how many 
directions does the air exert pressure ? 

In what directions does the pressure seem to be equal ? 

9. Make a drawing of the apparatus, showing the result of drawing out the air, using arrows to 
show the direction of air pressure. 


117 

























































































COLUMNS OF MERCURY AS INDICATORS OF AIR PRESSURE 


Purpose. To learn how columns of mercury may be used to indicate air pressure. 

Material. Mercury, bottle fitted with a two-hole stopper, rubber tube, a short and a long glass 
tube to fit the holes in the stopper, two glass tubes of the same length but of different diameters, a 
T-tube having short rubber tubes attached. 

Operation and Result. Fill the bottle an inch or two deep with mercury. Push the short glass 
tube barely through one hole of the stopper. Push the long tube far enough through the other hole to 
reach to the bottom of the bottle. Place the stopper in the bottle. 

1. How high does the mercury stand in this long tube? 

2. Attach the rubber tube to the short glass tube, and blow through it into the bottle. What does 
•the mercury do? Why? 


3. What determines the height of the mercury? 

4. Remove the rubber tube and attach it to the long tube. With the mouth, draw the air out 
of the tube. What does the mercury do? Why ? 


5. Make a section drawing of the apparatus to show the 
result in question 4, using arrows to show where the air exerts 
pressure. 

6. Remove the stopper. Stand the two tubes having differ¬ 
ent diameters vertically in the bottle, and connect their upper 
ends with the T-tube. With the mouth, draw the air from the 
T-tube and observe the result. Does the mercury rise to the 
same level or to different levels? 

7. If one of the tubes had been one inch square, would the 
mercury have risen to the same height in it as in the other 
tube ? 

8. Make a section drawing of the apparatus described in question 6, and show the result of the ex¬ 
periment. 


119 



































































































THE MERCURIAL BAROMETER 


Purpose. To find some means of measuring the pressure of the atmosphere. 

Material. A glass tube about 36 inches long, closed at one end, glass tumbler, two-hole rubber stop¬ 
per to fit the tumbler, mercury, glass funnel fitted with a short rubber tube ending in a short, pointed 
glass tube, ruler, support, a slightly bent glass tube ten or twelve inches long. 

Operation and Result. Place the long tube, open end up, in the support. 

1. What now fills the tube? 

Tightly pinching the short rubber tube, fill the funnel half full of mercury, and, inserting the 
pointed tip into the long glass tube, allow a fine stream of mercury to run until the tube is completely 
filled. Holding a finger firmly over the end of the tube, invert it into the tumbler filled about an inch 
deep with mercury. Holding the tube erect, and watching carefully the upper end of the mercury, re¬ 
move the finger. 

2. Describe the result. 

3. Measure and state how many inches high the mercury stands above the mercury in the tumbler. 

4. Is there any air in the space in the upper part of the tube ? 

5. Does the weight of any substance bear on the surface of the mercury in the tumbler? 

6. What, therefore, must hold up the mercury in the tube? 

7. Why must the barometer tube be closed at the top? 

If you had used a square barometer tube one inch across and 36 inches long, the column of mercury 
would have stood the same height as it does now. 

8. Since 1 cubic inch of mercury weighs £ pound (strictly .49) what does this experiment show the 
weight of the air to be on one square inch of surface ? 

Slip the stopper over the barometer tube (wet with soap suds to make it slip easily) and fit it in the 
tumbler. Through the other hole in the stopper insert the bent tube, and blow into it. 

9. What does the column of mercury do? 


Why? 

10. Suck air out of the tumbler. What does the mercury do? 

Why? 

11. What change in the barometer indicates greater atmospheric pressure ? 

12. What change indicates less atmospheric pressure? 

Sketch the barometer on the opposite side of this sheet. 

121 



















































































. 










































THE ACTION OF A BAROMETER 


Purpose. To learn the action and practical use of a barometer. 

Material. The barometer made in the previous experiment, a wide-mouth Mason jar, a rubber 
cork having a short glass tube through it to which is fitted a rubber tube two or three feet long, wax, 
strong string. 

Operation and Result. Break the porcelain plate out of the lid of the jar. Punch two holes in the 
metal top, one slightly larger than the barometer tube, the other large enough to hold the rubber 
stopper; or use a wide-mouth bottle with a two-hole rubber stopper. 

Tie the cord around the glass cup (a small beaker works nicely) and lower the barometer into 
the jar. Slip the cover down over the barometer tube and screw it tightly on the jar. Carefully seal 
the opening around the barometer tube with wax or chewing gum. Push the cork holding the short 
tube tightly into the other hole. 

1. Blow into the rubber tube. What does the column of mercury do? Why? 


2. Draw air out of the tube. What does the mercury do? Why? 


On this page draw a vertical section of the entire apparatus. Mark and name the place where the 
mercury stood (a) at the beginning of the experiment, (6) after blowing more air into the jar, (c) after 
drawing some air out of the jar. 


123 





CONDITIONS AFFECTING EVAPORATION 


Purpose. To learn the conditions affecting evaporation. 

Material. 1 in cups or beakers, small pan, glass plates, tumbler, water, piece of iron, gas burner. 

Operation and Result. A. Put five drops of water on a glass plate and place it on a warm piece of 
iron. Put the same amount on another glass plate and place it on the desk. Be careful to keep both 
plates away from a draught. 

1. Which evaporates faster? Why? 

B. Secure two other glass plates and place five drops of water on each. Place one plate in a 
draught or fan it some minutes. 

2. Which evaporates faster? Why? 

C. In two small cups or beakers place equal amounts of water. Cover one cup with an inverted 
tumbler. 

3. What collects on the inside of the tumbler ? 

4. Is the air within the tumbler damp or dry ? 

5. From which cup does water evaporate faster? Why? 

D. Put equal amounts of water into a pan and into a small cup (enough to cover the bottom of 
the pan). Allow the vessels to remain close together until you have clearly determined from which 
vessel the water evaporates faster. 

6. What causes the difference? 

In one sentence, state the four conditions learned from this experiment, that aid evaporation. 


EFFECTS OF EVAPORATION 

Purpose. To learn how the temperature of an object is affected when a liquid evaporates from 
its surface. 

Material. Two thermometers of the same style and size, sulphuric ether or alcohol, water. 

Operation and Result. First note the temperature of the thermometer, then put drop after drop of 
ether on the bulb, recording the temperature after each drop has evaporated. 

1. What is the general effect on the thermometer? Is the change rapid or slow? 

2. Where does part of the heat come from that is absorbed by the ether in evaporating? 

Allow drops of water as warm as the room to evaporate on the bulb of another thermometer. Record 
the temperature after each drop. 

3. Compare the change in temperature with that caused by the evaporation of ether. 

4. Draw the thermometers on the lower part of this sheet, indicating the temperature at the 
beginning and at the end of the experiment with the ether, and also with the water. 


125 






















































































CONDENSATION OF WATER VAPOR 


Purpose. To learn the conditions that cause the condensation of vapor. 

Material. Erlenmeyer flask, water, gas burner, glass plate, bright tin cup, salt, ice or snow. 
Operation and Result. A. Heat some water in a flask until it boils. 

1. What is the color of the vapor or steam in the flask? 

2. What shows that a change occurs in the steam as it rises in the air? What causes the change? 

3. Hold a cool glass plate just above the flask. What does it do to the vapor? Why? 

4. Which part of this experiment illustrates the formation of fog off the coast of Labrador? 

5. Which part illustrates the formation of fog on a mountain slope ? 

B. Thoroughly dry the outside of the cup and half fill it with water. Put in some ice or snow, a 
little at a time, and stir with a thermometer. 

6. What forms on the outside of the cup? 

7. Where does it come from? 

8. Why does it form ? 

9. At about what temperature is the cup when condensation begins ? (This is called the “ dew 
point.”) 

10. In a cup dry outside, place some finely broken ice or snow mixed with salt. Stir with a ther¬ 
mometer and note the temperature when frost forms on the outside. Did dew form on the outside 
before the frost appeared? 

11. Would dew form before frost in very dry weather? 

12. What is the difference between frozen dew and hoarfrost? 


127 






















































































FORMATION OF FOG AND CLOUD 


Purpose. To learn how the moisture and the temperature of the air are affected by changes in the 
.pressure of the atmosphere. 

Material. Large bottle, two-hole rubber stopper, thermometer, water, matches, air pump or bicycle 
pump, and rubber tubing. 

Operation and Result. Put a little water in the bottle to furnish moisture. Insert the thermometer 
i:i one hole of the stopper so that the bulb will be within the bottle. Through the other hole, insert 
the tube and connect it with a bicycle pump or atomizer bulb. Pump air into the bottle and then 
suddenly disconnect the tube. 

1. What does the surplus air do ? What does some of the vapor do ? 

Drop a burning match into the bottle to supply a little smoke or “dust,” and repeat the operation. 

2. What result? Why different from the first trial? 


3. Pump air in again. What effect on the thermometer? On the fog? Explain both. 


4. Since rising air expands, why do upward-moving currents of air produce clouds and rain? 

5. Draw the apparatus on this sheet. 


129 






















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MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE. RELATIVE HUMIDITY 


Purpose. To determine to what extent the air of the room is saturated. 

Materials. Two thermometers, piece of cardboard a little longer than the thermometers, vial, 
small piece of muslin, water, thread. 

Directions. Wrap one end of the muslin around the bulb of one thermometer, tying it with thread 
so that the muslin shall hang down two or three inches like a wick. Tie the thermometer and the vial 
to the cardboard so that the wick shall hang in the vial. Fasten the dry-bulb thermometer to the 
same cardboard. Wet the muslin and fill the vial with water that has been standing in the room long 
enough to have the room’s temperature. Fan the thermometer and note the readings. 

1. Which thermometer shows the cooler temperature ? Why does it ? 

2. Would the water evaporate from the cloth faster in dry or in damp air? Then would the 
thermometers differ more in dry or in damp air? Why? 

3. If the thermometers are not fanned, will the air around them remain as dry as the air 
throughout the room? Explain. 

4. Of what does the dry thermometer show the temperature ? Does fanning change it ? 

The following table will show to what per cent the air is saturated. In the left-hand vertical column, 
find the temperature registered by the dry thermometer. At the top of the vertical columns, find the num¬ 
ber which shows the difference in the readings of your two thermometers. From this number, follow 
down the column to the line indicated by the dry thermometer. The figure at the intersection shows the 
per cent of saturation. 


TABLE FOR FINDING RELATIVE HUMIDITY —Percentages 


Dry 

Therm. 

(Air 
Tern p.) 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Difference between Dry- 

5 6 7 8 9 10 

and Wet-bulb Thermometers 

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

30 

89 

78 

68 

57 

47 

37 

27 

17 

8 













32 

90 

79 

69 

60 

50 

41 

31 

22 

13 

4 












34 

90 

81 

72 

62 

53 

44 

35 

27 

18 

9 

1 











36 

91 

82 

73 

65 

56 

48 

39 

31 

23 

14 

6 











38 

91 

83 

75 

67 

59 

51 

43 

35 

27 

19 

12 

4 










40 

92 

84 

76 

68 

61 

53 

46 

38 

31 

23 

16 

9 

2 









42 

92 

85 

77 

70 

62 

55 

48 

41 

34 

28 

21 

14 

7 

0 








44 

93 

85 

78 

71 

64 

57 

51 

44 

37 

31 

24 

18 

12 

5 








46 

93 

86 

79 

72 

65 

59 

53 

46 

40 

34 

28 

22 

16 

10 

4 







48 

93 

87 

80 

73 

67 

60 

54 

48 

42 

36 

31 

25 

19 

14 

8 

3 






50 

93 

87 

81 

74 

68 

62 

56 

50 

44 

39 

33 

28 

22 

17 

12 

7 

2 





52 

94 

88 

81 

75 

69 

63 

58 

52 

46 

41 

36 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

6 

0 




54 

94 

88 

82 

76 

70 

65 

59 

54 

48 

43 

38 

33 

28 

23 

18 

14 

9 

5 

0 



56 

94 

88 

82 

77 

71 

66 

61 

55 

50 

45 

40 

35 

31 

26 

21 

17 

12 

8 

4 



58 

94 

89 

83 

77 

72 

67 

62 

57 

52 

47 

42 

38 

33 

28 

24 

20 

15 

11 

7 

3 


60 

94 

89 

84 

78 

73 

68 

63 

58 

53 

49 

44 

40 

35 

31 

27 

22 

18 

14 

10 

6 

2 

62 

94 

89 

84 

79 

74 

69 

64 

60 

55 

50 

40 

41 

37 

33 

29 

25 

21 

17 

13 

9 

6 

64 

95 

90 

85 

79 

75 

70 

66 

61 

56 

52 

48 

43 

39 

35 

31 

27 

23 

20 

16 

12 

9 

66 

95 

90 

85 

80 

76 

71 

66 

62 

58 

53 

49 

45 

41 

37 

33 

29 

26 

22 

18 

15 

11 

68 

95 

90 

85 

81 

76 

72 

67 

63 

59 

55 

51 

47 

43 

39 

35 

31 

28 

24 

21 

17 

14 

70 

95 

90 

86 

81 

77 

72 

68 

64 

60 

56 

52 

48 

44 

40 

37 

33 

30 

26 

23 

20 

17 

72 

95 

91 

86 

82 

78 

73 

69 

65 

61 

57 

53 

49 

46 

42 

39 

35 

32 

28 

25 

22 

19 

74 

95 

91 

8(5 

82 

78 

74 

70 

66 

62 

58 

54 

51 

47 

44 

40 

37 

34 

30 

27 

24 

21 

76 

96 

91 

87 

83 

78 

74 

70 

67 

63 

59 

55 

52 

48 

45 

42 

38 

35 

32 

29 

26 

23 

78 

96 

91 

87 

83 

79 

75 

71 

67 

64 

60 

57 

53 

50 

46 

43 

40 

37 

34 

31 

28 

25 

80 

96 

91 

87 

83 

79 

76 

72 

68 

64 

61 

57 

54 

51 

47 

44 

41 

38 

35 

32 

29 

27 

82 

96 

91 

87 

83 

79 

76 

72 

69 

65 

62 

58 

55 

52 

49 

46 

43 

40 

37 

34 

31 

28 

84 

96 

92 

88 

84 

80 

77 

73 

70 

66 

63 

59 

56 

53 

50 

47 

44 

41 

38 

35 

32 

30 

86 

96 

92 

88 

84 

80 

77 

73 

70 

66 

63 

60 

57 

54 

51 

48 

45 

42 

39 

37 

34 

31 

88 

96 

92 

88 

85 

81 

78 

74 

71 

67 

64 

61 

58 

55 

52 

49 

46 

43 

41 

38 

35 

33 

90 

96 

92 

88 

85 

81 

78 

74 

71 

68 

64 

61 

58 

56 

53 

50 

47 

44 

42 

39 

37 

34 

92 

96 

92 

89 

85 

82 

78 

75 

72 

69 

65 

62 

59 

57 

54 

51 

48 

45 

43 

40 

38 

35 

94 

96 

92 

89 

85 

82 

78 

75 

72 

69 

66 

63 

60 

57 

54 

52 

49 

46 

44 

41 

39 

36 

96 

9(5 

93 

89 

86 

82 

79 

76 

73 

70 

67 

64 

61 

58 

55 

53 

50 

47 

45 

42 

40 

37 

98 

96 

93 

89 

86 

82 

79 

76 

73 

70 

67 

64 

61 

58 

56 

53 

51 

48 

4(5 

43 

41 

39 

100 

96 

93 

90 

86 

83 

80 

77 

74 

71 

68 

65 

62 

59 

57 

54 

52 

49 

47 

44 

42 

40 


131 





























Test the humidity on five different dates and record as follows : — 


Date 

Temp, of the 

Air (Dry Ther.) 

Wet-bulb 

Reading 

Difference 
in Temperature 

Per Cent of Saturation 
(Relative Humidity) 







182 

















MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE — ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY 


Purpose. To determine the actual weight of water vapor in one cubic foot of air. 

The amount of water vapor in one cubic foot of saturated air changes with the temperature. The 
actual amount at different temperatures is shown in grains in the following table. One grain of 
vapor condensed to water would form a drop about the size of a grain of wheat. In the vapor form it 
occupies a much larger space. 

GRAINS OF SATURATE*D WATER VAPOR PER CUBIC FOOT 


At 0°, .5 grain 

At 40°, 2.8 grains 

At 80°, 11.0 grains 

At 10°, .8 grain 

At 50°, 4.0 grains 

At 90°, 14.8 grains 

At 20°, 1.2 grains 

At 30°, 2.0 grains 

At 60°, 5.7 grains 

At 70°, 8.0 grains 

At 100°, 19.8 grains 


Problems. 1. What is the largest number of grains of water vapor that one cubic foot of air can 
hold at 0°? 30° ? 50° ? 70° ? 100°? 

2. How many additional grains of vapor would a cubic foot of air be able to hold if warmed from 
20° to 30° ? If warmed from 90° to 100° ? 

3. When saturated air cools, all the vapor it cannot hold condenses to snow or water. How many 
grains of moisture would be condensed from one cubic foot of saturated air if it cooled from 90° to 80°? 
If from 40° to 30° ? If from 10° to 0°? 

4. If 1200 cubic feet of saturated air cools from 50° to 10°, how many grains of water and how 
many of snow will be formed ? 

5. Is the air able to contain more vapor near the equator or near the poles? At which of these 
places would cooling produce a heavier rainfall? 

6. If air were 50% saturated, how many grains of vapor would be in one cubic foot of air at 50° ? 
At 90° ? 

7. With a relative humidity of 60% and a temperature of 70°, how many grains of water vapor in 
500 cubic feet of air? In the air of your schoolroom under the same conditions? 

8. San Francisco and Independence, Cal., have the same average temperature of 60°. The relative 
humidity of the former is 77%, and of the latter, 37%. Notice their location on a map and explain this 
difference in amount of moisture. How many grains of vapor in one cubic foot of air at each place? In 
which place would cooling the same number of degrees produce the heavier rainfall? 

9. The average temperature of Chicago is 50°, and of Yuma, Ariz., is 70°. The average relative 
humidity of the former is 77%, and of the latter, 49%. What is the average weight of water vapor in a 
cubic foot of air at each place? W 7 hich has the greater amount? Why, therefore, has Chicago a much 
heavier rainfall than Yuma? 

10. On a sheet of cross-section paper, draw a chart to show how much more vapor the air can hold 
as it becomes warmer. Let the lowest horizontal line represent the temperature of zero degrees. Let 
one small square vertically represent one degree. Write the proper degree of temperature in the side 
margin, at the end of each heavy horizontal line. To show the amount of water vapor, let one centi¬ 
meter horizontally represent one grain. Label the heavy line at the binding margin “0 grains,” the 
next heavy vertical line “ 1 grain,” etc., across the top of the sheet. Using the above table, place a dot 
to show the number of grains of water vapor that air can hold at each temperature given. Connect these 
dots with a curving line, and color the space between it and the binding margin. Label it “ Grains 
of Water Vapor Air can hold at Different Temperatures.” 


134 










EXPERIMENTS WITH HEAT 


A 

Purpose. To learn the effect of heat upon the size of a solid. 

Material. Solid brass ball, ring just large enough to allow the ball to pass through it, gas burner. 
Operation and Result. Note how closely the ring fits the ball. Heat the ball for a few minutes, 
testing its size at frequent intervals by trying to pass it through the ring. 

1. What d<5 these tests prove? 

Allow the ball to cool, testing its size at frequent intervals. 

2. What do these tests prove ? 

3. Similar changes in size are caused by temperature changes in rocks, glass, and other solids. 
Explain why the outside layer sometimes snaps off from a rock exposed to the sun. 


B 

Purpose. To learn the effect of heat upon the size of a liquid. 

Material. Colored water, Erlenmeyer flask, one-hole rubber cork, glass tube at least 15 inches long, 
iron support, wire gauze, gas burner, rubber bands, foot ruler. 

Operation and Result. Fill the flask with colored water. Push the long tube nearly through the 
cork. Adjust the cork in the flask so that the water shall rise a short distance in the tube. With the 
rubber bands, fasten the ruler to the long tube with its zero end even with the top of the column of 
water. Lay the wire gauze on the iron support, placing the flask on it, and a lighted burner under it. 

1. What is the first brief effect on the height of the water? Explain this. 


2. Continue to warm the water. Note the general effect, or 
record the time required for each increase of one half inch. 


3. Allow the water to cool for a time and note the effect. 

4. What effect has heat upon the volume of the water? 

Upon its density ? Upon its weight per cubic inch ? 

5. On the margin of this paper, carefully draw the apparatus 
used in this experiment, showing the height of the water before 
and after heating. 

6. If mercury, alcohol, and other liquids were substituted for 
the water in this experiment, they would behave in a similar 
manner. Explain the action of a common thermometer. 


135 


c 


Purpose. To learn the effect of heat upon the volume of a gas. 

Material. A hollow glass globe with glass tube attached; or a flask (or large test tube) fitted with 
a rubber cork through which passes a glass tube; cup of colored water ; gas burner. 

Operation and Result. Hold the apparatus so that the end of the glass tube dips in the colored 
water. 

1. What now fills the globe (or flask)? 

2. Warm the globe with the hands. What happens in the water ? 

3. Carefully bring the lighted burner near the globe. What effect do you notice ? Explain it. 


4. Keeping the end of the tube in the water, allow the globe 
to cool. What does the water do? 

What must the air in the globe be doing ? 

5. Clearly state the effect of heat upon the volume of a gas. 

6. What must be the effect upon its density ? 

7. In the margin draw the apparatus. 

D 

Purpose. To learn how heat travels through solids. 

Material. Bits of wood, paraffin or wax, metal rod or w ire, gas burner, cardboard. 

Operation and Result. Dip the bits of wood in wax or melted paraffin, and attach them to the rod, 
placing them one inch apart. Carefully shielding the attached pieces from the direct heat of the burner 
by means of the cardboard, heat one end of the rod. 

1. What do the bits of wood do? What does this prove about the heat? 


2. What name is applied to this method of heat movement? 

3. Where in nature does heat travel through solids ? 

4. On the lower part of this sheet, make a drawing of the apparatus. 


136 


E 


Purpose. To learn how heat travels through liquids. 

Material. Long pan, gas burner, bits of paper, thermometer, water. 

Operation and Result. Nearly fill the pan with water and support it a few inches above the desk. 
Let it stand until the water is perfectly quiet, then sprinkle the bits of paper on the water. Hang a 
thermometer in the water at one end of the pan, and place a lighted burner under the other end. 

1. What does the water begin to do ? How do you know it? 


2. As the water near the burner becomes warmer, does it expand or contract? Does it become 
heavier or lighter ? 

3. What has this change to do with the movement of the water? 


4. How is the thermometer affected? If desired, record the temperature every few minutes. 


5. How does the heat get to the thermometer? 

6. What name is applied to this method of heat movement ? 

7. Name some countries bordering the ocean that have heat 
brought to them from equatorial regions by this method. 


8. In the margin draw the apparatus. 


F 

Purpose. To learn one method by which heat travels through gases. 

Material. Candle, matches, shallow pasteboard box, two Argand lamp chimneys, touch paper 
(paper soaked in a solution of saltpeter and dried) or any other material that gives off much smoke 
when burning. 

Operation and Result. Near each end of the cover of the box, draw a circle as large as the base of 
the lamp chimney. With a pencil, punch as many holes as possible within the area of each circle. 
Put a lighted candle in the center of one group of holes, and then place the chimneys on the circles. 
Light the touch paper and hold it above each chimney in turn. 

1. What does the air in the chimneys do, and how do you know it? 


2. As the air near the candle becomes warm, does it expand or contract ? Does it become lighter 
or heavier? Why does it move? 


137 


3. Hold a hand above each chimney. Which is the warmer ? Explain how heat gets to your hand, 
and give the proper name to this method of heat movement. 

4. In what part of your apparatus does the air illustrate the movement of the air in the neighbor¬ 
hood of the earth’s heat equator ? 

5. Where does the air illustrate the trade winds blowing toward the equator? 

6. Where and how does it illustrate the air in the tropical calms? 

7. Draw a vertical section of your apparatus, and with arrows show the movement of the air. 


G 

Purpose. To learn whether heat travels through a vacuum. 

Material. Electric current; incandescent lamp from which the air has been completely exhausted. 

Operation and Result. Hold the bulb in your hand and turn on the current. 

1. What change in temperature do you notice? 

Although the bulb has no air in it, yet its space is filled with the mysterious ether that extends 
through the universe. 

2. How does this experiment illustrate the earth’s receiving light and heat from the sun? 

3. What name is applied to this method of heat movement? 

4. By this method, heat (and light) travels 186,000 miles per second. State the sun’s average 
distance from us, and determine how many minutes are required for the sun’s rays to reach the 
earth. 


H 

Purpose. To determine whether dark- or light-colored surfaces absorb heat most readily. 

Material. Two thermometers, sheet of cardboard, small piece of black and of white paper. 

Operation and Result. Tie the thermometers to the cardboard about an inch apart, and fasten a 
piece of black paper over one bulb and a piece of white paper over the other bulb. Lay the ap¬ 
paratus in the sunshine and record the temperature of each at frequent intervals. 

1. Which color absorbs heat most readily? 

2. What proves the other color to be a better reflector? 


138 































■ 







































RELATIVE AMOUNTS OF HEAT RECEIVED FROM THE SUN 


Purpose. To study the heating power of the sun’s rays when they fall on the earth at different 
angles. 

Turn the binding edge of a sheet of cross-section paper toward you, and let the heavy line run¬ 
ning parallel with the lower lengthwise edge, and two centimeters from it, represent the earth’s 
surface. Using your ruler, make this line heavier, labeling it “ Surface of the Earth.” Near the left- 
hand edge of your paper lay your ruler at a right angle to this line and draw lines from it about five 
inches in length along both edges of your ruler. Color the space between them, above the “surface” 
line, and label it “A Vertical Sunbeam.” 

A short distance to the right of this, again lay your ruler across this “surface” line, placing it, by 
means of a protractor, at an angle of 66 ^°. Draw lines along both edges of your ruler as before, and 
color in the space. Label it “A Sunbeam at 66 ^°.” 

At the right of this, draw another sunbeam at an angle of 23i°. Be sure that both sides of it come 
to the “ surface ” line. Color and properly label it. 

Questions. 1. Since these sunbeams are of the same size, how does the amount of heat in one 
compare with the amount in the others? 

2. Count the number of millimeters each beam covers in the line representing the earth’s surface, 
and write the number in each. 

3. Do these sunbeams spread their heat over the same amount of the earth’s surface? Do they, 
therefore, heat the surface equally ? Explain. 


4. When the sun is over the equator, at what latitude does this vertical ray strike the earth? At 
what latitude the sunbeam of 665 ° ? At what latitude the sunbeam of 23^°? 

5. Clearly state the reason why the average temperature of the earth’s surface decreases gradually 
from the equator to the poles. 


Determine the angle at which the sunbeam, at your locality, falls at noon on March 21 (90° minus 
your latitude) ; on June 21 (90° + 23^° — your latitude) ; and on Dec. 22 (90° — 23£° — your lati¬ 
tude). On another sheet of cross-section paper, draw beams the width of your ruler, coming down 
at these angles to a line representing the earth’s surface. Color each space, and in it write the proper 
date and the number of millimeters it covers on the line representing the earth’s surface. 

9. Why is it warmer in your locality in June than in January ? 

7. Explain why the heat from the sun on a clear day increases until noon and then decreases. 


140 


ELEMENTARY EXERCISE ON ISOTHERMS 


Purpose. To map and to study the average annual distribution of temperature in the United States. 

Directions. On a blank weather map of the United States (p. 193) clearly dot each city, and 
with neat figures write the given temperature on the north side of each dot. To map the temperature, 
lines should be drawn through all places having the even temperature of 40°, 50°, 60°, 70°. 

To connect those at 40°, start the line from Chatham on the Atlantic coast, and draw it toward the 
nearest city having the same temperature — Parry Sound. Since Quebec is at 39° and Montreal at 41°, 
the line cannot go through either, but must pass halfway between them. From Parry Sound, the line 
goes to Marquette, passing south of Sault Ste. Marie, — one eleventh of the way toward Toledo, since 
they differ eleven degrees in temperature. Further west, Duluth is at 38° and La Crosse is at 46°. 
Since they differ eight degrees, this isotherm of 40° must pass two eighths of the way from Duluth to 
La Crosse. In this way construct the line west to Medicine Hat, curving the line to avoid any angles. 

Then draw another line through cities having a temperature of 50°; another line through those at 
60°; and another through places at 70°. Write the proper temperature at both ends of each line. Label 
the map : Isothermal Chart of the United States for the Year. 

1. Which part of the United States is the coldest? Why? 

2. How many degrees does the temperature change along the Pacific coast from Tacoma to San 
Diego? Along the Atlantic coast from Jupiter to Boston? Which varies more? 

3. Explain the southward bend of the 50° isotherm in Colorado and New Mexico. 


AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL 
Not corrected for elevation above the sea. 




J 'm 





GC 




_} o 


• ® 

J <D 


• V 

3 » 


% be 

<31 

£ 

&« 2 
z a 


p be 

^ op 

£ o 

Is 

< c 


»s be 

iD 

£ a 

2 g 

£ 5 

< a 



M ~ 


c 



a 

54 11 

Atlantic Region 



Lake Region 



Rocky Mountains 



Chatham 

40 

42 

Buffalo 

48 

38 

to Pacific 



Montreal 

41 

41 

Toledo 

50 

31 

Phoenix 

70 

5 

Quebec 

39 

42 

Chicago 

50 

35 

Yuma 

72 

3 

Boston 

50 

43 

Parry Sound 

40 

38 

San Diego 

60 

11 

Albany 

48 

38 

Sault Ste. Marie 

39 

26 

San Luis Obispo 

60 

17 

New York 

52 

45 

Marquette 

40 

32 

Independence 

60 

6 

Scranton 

50 

35 

Duluth 

38 

30 

San Francisco 

56 

24 

Norfolk 

(» 

52 




Sacramento 

60 

20 

Charlotte 

(10 

52 

Gt. Lakes to Rocky 



Red Bluff 

60 

26 

Atlanta 

GO 

52 

Mountains 



Eureka 

55 

46 

Jacksonville 

70 

54 

La Crosse 

46 

30 

Reno 

60 

8 

Jupiter 

74 

61 

Moorhead 

38 

24 

Winnemucca 

50 

8 

Gulf Region 



Huron 

42 

20 

Salt Lake City 

52 

16 


55 

62 

61 

48 

29 

53 

Bismarck 

40 

18 

Grand Junction 

50 

9 

Tampa 

Mobile 

New Orleans 

Galveston 

Corpus Christi 

Memphis 

72 

G8 

70 

70 

70 

61 

Havre 

Medicine Hat 

Denver 

Pueblo 

Omaha 

40 

40 

49 

51 

50 

14 

14 

14 

12 

28 

Pocatello 

Boise 

Spokane 

Portland 

Tacoma 

48 

50 

47 

53 

50 

15 

14 

20 

47 

45 



Davenport 

50 

34 




Ohio Valley 



Oklahoma 

60 

30 




Chattanooga 

GO 

53 

Fort Smith 

60 

45 




Nashville 

60 

50 

Santa Fe 

50 

14 




Cairo 

59 

43 

El Paso 

65 

9 




Pittsburg 

52 

37 

Amarillo 

55 

20 





142 

















































. 





DISTRIBUTION OF TEMPERATURE 


Purpose. To study the distribution of temperature over the earth, and the influences that affect it. 

Material. Isothermal maps of the world for January and July, in your text-book or atlas. 

Note. The temperatures reported from places have been changed to show what they would be if all places were 
at sea level. Hence the influence of highlands is not shown. 

A. 1. Find the two or three areas of greatest heat on each map. What is their average latitude in 
July? In January? 

2. Why do the areas of greatest heat regularly change to these different latitudes every six months? 

B. 3. What is the average July temperature at the middle of North America (at the crossing of 
the 40th parallel and the 100th meridian) ? 

4. What is the average July temperature at the middle of the ocean at this same latitude and 
the crossing of the 160th meridian west longitude ? 

5. Which, therefore, is the warmer in summer, the middle of the continent or of the ocean? 

6. What is the average January temperature of each of these two places ? 

7 . Which, therefore, is the cooler in winter ? 

8. Which, therefore, has a greater range (change) of temperature annually, an ocean or a continent? 

C. 9. Which hemisphere, northern or southern, has the greater land area ? Which the greater 
■water area ? In which do the isotherms most nearly coincide with the parallels of latitude ? Explain 

why. 

D. 10. In what direction do the prevailing winds blow across North America in the neighborhood 
of the 40th parallel ? In July, at this latitude, what is the temperature at the shore of the Pacific? At 
the shore of the Atlantic ? Although the oceans near these two places have about the same tempera¬ 
ture, one place is much warmer than the other. Explain why. Which place is cooler in January? 
Explain why. 

E. 11. At the same latitude, which place is warmer in both January and July, the ocean near 
England or near Labrador? The ocean near Norway or near Greenland? The Atlantic Ocean at the 
Tropic of Capricorn near South America, or near Africa ? 

12. Consult a map of ocean currents and explain why the temperatures vary so many degrees in 
each of the three cases just named. 

F. 13. Review parts A, B, C, D, and E, and state five influences that affect the distribution of 
temperature over the earth. 

Advanced Questions. 14. If the entire earth’s surface were level land, how would the earth’s 
temperatures be distributed? 

15. What and where is the lowest temperature shown in these maps in Januai’y? In July? Why 
is one lower than the other? 

16. Account for the crowded isotherms in Alaska in January. 

17. In which month is the effect of the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Drift most apparent? 
Explain why. 

18. What do these maps show to be the range of temperature at your home city? Compare the 
range at the western shore of Europe at the same latitude, and explain the difference. 


144 



SEASONAL RANGE OF TEMPERATURE. EFFECT OF LATITUDE 


Purpose. To plot and to study the seasonal range of temperature at several places located at the 
ocean’s shore but at different latitudes. 

Directions. Let the heavy vertical lines of a sheet of cross-section paper represent the months of 
the year in order. At the top of the left vertical line write Jan.; at the top of the second heavy line 
write Feb. In this way, show the months given in the table below. Number the end of the top hori¬ 
zontal line 100°. Let one cm. space up and down represent 10°. Number the other horizontal lines to 
the bottom of the page. 

Place a dot on the left vertical line to show the temperature recorded in table I (for Para) for 
Jan. In the same way dot the temperature for each of the other months in this table. Connect the 
dots with a curving line. This line is called the “ temperature curve.” In the same wav, draw curves 
for tables II, III, IV, and V. Use lines of different colors if desired. Write the name of the city and 
its latitude at the end of each curve. Put all the lines on the same sheet. 


TEMPERATURES, in Degrees F. 



Place 

Lat. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mch. 

Apr. 

May 

June 

July 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

I. 

Para, Brazil . . 

0° 

81 

79 

78 

79 

80 

81 

81 

82 

82 

82 

83 

82 

81 

II. 

Galveston, Tex. . 

29° N. 

52 

58 

63 

70 

77 

82 

84 

82 

77 

71 

62 

56 

52 

III. 

Portland, Me. . . 

44° N. 

21 

22 

30 

41 

52 

63 

68 

66 

60 

48 

37 

26 

21 

IV. 

Fort Conger . . . 

82° N. 

-38 

-40 

-28 

-14 

15 

33 

37 

34 

16 

-9 

—24 

-28 

— 38 

V. 

Buenos Aires, Arg. 

35° S. 

76 

75 

72 

67 

60 

55 

51 

52 

56 

60 

66 

71 

76 

VI. 

Chicago, Ill. . . 

42° N. 

24 

25 

34 

46 

57 

66 

72 

71 

64 

53 

39 

29 

24 


1. What month is warmest in curve II? In curve III? IV? Why is this the warm¬ 
est month ? 


2. What month is the coldest in curve II? III? IV? Why? 


3. What is the amount of seasonal range of temperature in curve I? II? III? IV? 

4. What is the warmest month in curve V ? Coldest month? Why is this curve different from 
the others? 


5. Consult maps showing these cities and state whether the temperature ranges at these cities vary 
because they are at different distances from the sea, or at different altitudes above the sea. 

What must be the reason for their difference ? 

6. Why is Fort Conger so excessively cold from October until April? 

7. Why does Para have a smaller annual range than the other cities? 

8. Plot the Chicago curve from the above data. 


146 



























































































































SEASONAL RANGE OF TEMPERATURE. EFFECT OF LAND AND SEA 


Purpose. To plot and to study the seasonal range of temperature at two places which are at equal 
distances from the equator, and at equal altitudes: one place being in the interior of a continent (St. 
Louis, Mo.) ; the other place being on an island in the ocean (Ponta Delgada, Azores Is.). 

Directions. Mark the months along the top margin of a sheet of cross-section paper, and the tem¬ 
peratures along the side margin just as in the preceding exercise. Draw the temperature curves for 
both places on the same sheet. 


TEMPERATURES, in Degrees F. 




Jan. 

Feb. 

Mch. 

Apr. 

Mat 

June 

July 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

I. 

St. Louis, Mo. . . . 

30 

35 

42 

55 

65 

75 

84 

76 

69 

57 

44 

34 

30 

II. 

Ponta Delgada . . . 

66 

65 

66 

68 

70 

72 

74 

76 

74 

72 

69 

67 

66 


1. State the latitude and describe the general location of each of these places. 


2. What is the amount of seasonal range (change) of temperature in curve I ? In curve II? 

3. Which of the two places shows the smaller range ? The greater range ? 

4. Do these places differ because they are at different latitudes? At different altitudes? 

5. What, then, must be the reason ? 


148 






























































































' 
































































DAILY RANGE OF TEMPERATURE 


Purpose. To plot and to study the daily changes of temperature in summer and in winter: (a) at 
a place in the interior of a continent (St. Louis), and (b) at a place on an island in the ocean (Key West). 

Directions. Write 12 Midnight at the top of the left vertical line of a sheet of cross-section paper. 
Let each of the centimeter spaces from left to right represent two hours. Mark the proper hour of a.m. 
or p.m. at the top of each vertical line as far as the next midnight line. Using a ruler, make the noon 
and midnight lines heavier, and label each. 

Number the end of the top horizontal line lOO 3 F. Let one centimeter space up and down repre¬ 
sent 5°. Number the other horizontal lines to the bottom of the page. 

Place a dot on the left midnight line at the temperature recorded below in table I. In the same 
way dot the temperature for each of the other hours in this table. Connect these dots with a curving 
line. This line is called the “ temperature cui’ve.” 

In the same manner, on the same sheet, plot the temperatures shown in tables II, III, and IY, and 
draw the curves, numbering the curves the same as the table. 


TEMPERATURES, in Degrees F. 





Mid¬ 

night 

2 

4 

6 

8 

10 

Noon 

2 

4 

6 

8 

10 

Mid¬ 

night 

I. 

Key West (summer) 

79 

78 

77 

79 

83 

86 

88 

‘to 

90 

86 

83 

80 

79 

II. 

Key West (winter) 

08 

66 

65 

64 

67 

73 

77 

78 

77 

75 

73 

70 

68 

III. 

St. Louis (summer) 

76 

72 

69 

70 

74 

81 

91 

97 

97 

85 

81 

78 

76 

IV. 

St. Louis (winter) 

11 

10 

7 

5 

6 

12 

19 

32 

25 

20 

16 

13 

11 


1. State the latitude and general location of each of these places. 


2. What hour is the warmest in curve I? In curve II? III? IV? 

3. Why is this the warmest part of the day ? 

4. What is the coldest hour in curve I ? II? III? IY? 

5. Why is this the coldest part of the day ? 

6. What is the amount of daily temperature change (range) in curve I? II? III? IY? 

7. Which of these two places shows the greater range in summer? In winter? 

8. State two reasons for this. 

Advanced Questions. 9. At each place, does the temperature begin to increase at an earlier hour 
in summer or in winter? 

From the almanacs find the time of sunrise in summer (July 1) at each place. 

10. At which should the temperature begin to increase earlier? 

11. How much earlier? 

12. In the same way compare them in winter (Jan. 1). 

150 




































TERRESTRIAL OR PLANETARY WIND BELTS 


Purpose. To study the location and characteristics of the wind belts of the earth. 

Material. Two pilot charts of the North Atlantic Ocean — a summer month and a winter month. 
(These charts may be obtained fi'om the Hydrographic Office, Washington, D.C.) 

You are to study the winds in the middle of the ocean, away from the influence of the land, and 
record the facts you learn in the blank spaces of the table below. The equatorial calms lie in the south¬ 
ern part of the chart, bounded by two dotted lines named “northern limit of the southeast trades” 
and “southern limit of the northeast trades.” The trade belt extends from the equatorial calms to a 
line marked “northern limit of the northeast trades.” The tropical calm belt extends from the north¬ 
ern border of the trades nearly to the Azores Islands. The.prevailing westerlies extend from the tropical 
calms north beyond the limits of the chart. In recording the latitude of each belt, give the north and 
the south boundary in the middle of the ocean — summer month in one line, winter month in the other. 

The character of the winds in each rectangle bounded by the light black lines (either continuous or 
dashed) is indicated by the diagram called a “wind rose,” in blue at the center of the rectangle. The 
figure within the circle is the per cent of time calm. In filling the blank of the table, give the highest, 
the lowest, and the average of several rectangles near the middle of the ocean, in each wind belt. 

The directions of the winds are indicated by the blue lines (arrows) drawn to the circle. The wind 
comes in the direction of the arrow toward the center. Give as the prevailing direction that indicated 
by the longest arrow, or if there are several long arrows, give an intermediate direction between them. 
Give the direction from which the wind comes. If no direction seems to prevail, write “variable.” 

The length of the arrow shows the comparative length of time the wind blows from the direction 
indicated. Under the head “ constancy of direction” in the table use adjectives, such as “very con¬ 
stant,” “ moderately constant,” “ very irregular,” etc., to describe the steadiness of direction of the wind. 

The velocity of the wind is shown by the “feathers” at the end of the arrow. The numbers of 
feathers correspond with the numbers of Beaufort’s Scale here given. Record for each belt the maximum 
velocity indicated and the most common velocity. This maximum is not the strongest wind experienced 
in the belt, but the month’s average from the direction indicated. 

Beaufort’s Scale 


Number 

of 

Feathers 

Kind of Wind 

Miles 

PER 

Hour 

Number 

of 

Feathers 

Kind of Wind 

Miles 

per 

Hour 

0 

Calm. 

0- 3 

7 

Moderate Gale. 

34-40 

1 

Light Air. 

3- 8 

8 

Fresh Gale. 

40-48 

2 

Light Breeze. 

8-13 

9 

Strong Gale. 

48-56 

3 

Gentle Breeze. 

13-18 

10 

Whole Gale. 

56-65 

4 

Moderate Breeze. 

18-23 

11 

Storm. 

65-75 

5 

Fresh Breeze. 

23-28 

12 

Hurricane. 

75-90 

6 

Strong Breeze. 

2S-34 



and over 


CHARACTERISTICS OF WIND BELTS 



Equatorial Calms 
or Doldrums 

N. E. Trades Tropical Calms. 

Horse Latitudes 

Prevailing 

Westerlies 

r ... i S Summer .... 
L/cititucle \ tit • i 

l \v inter . 

Per cent of time calm .... 

Prevailing direction of wind 

Constancy of direction . . . 

, ., S Maximum .... 

Yetocity j Aterage .... 






151 










































Advanced Questions. 1. Which belts are narrow? 


2. Which are wide? 

3. In which belts are the winds noticeably variable? 

4. In which are they more constant? 

5. In which is a relatively large per cent of the time calm? 

6. In which is there little time calm ? 

7. Explain from the direction of air movement why these things are so. 

8. How does the summer month differ from the winter month in velocity of winds, directions, etc. ? 

9. On a blank Mercator’s map (from near end of this book) plot the wind belts. Use arrows to 
indicate prevailing directions, — longer for the more constant winds ; use small circles to mark the 
equatorial calms, and small crosses for the tropical calms. 


152 


FERREL’S LAW 


Object. To learn how the rotation of the earth affects the direction of winds and currents. 

Material. A small globe, a pin, and a string. 

Directions. Put a pin through a knot at one end of a string two feet or more long. Prick no holes 
in the globe, but find several holes already made along longitude 180°. Put a pin in a hole in the north 
temperate zone. Extend the string straight north (globe direction) in a plane horizontal to the sur¬ 
face of the globe at the place it touches, and hold it at the end. Turn the globe slowly to the east 
(counterclockwise) through less than } of a rotation, holding the end of the string all the time in the 
same place. The wind is supposed to start at the pin and blow toward your hand, to the north. 

1. The earth’s rotation deflects the wind to the east or the west of a north direction? 

To the right, or to the left, as you stand facing north? 

Extend the string east from the pin (at right angles to the meridian, horizontal). Rotate the globe 
slightly to the east, being careful to keep the string taut by pulling straight on it. 

2. The west wind, from the pin toward the hand, is deflected to the north or to the south of east? 

To the right, or to the left, of one facing east? 

For the north wind, extend the string south from the pin. Rotate the globe toward the east. 

3. Does the rotation of the earth deflect this wind to the east, or to the west, of a south direction ? 

To the right, or to the left, of one going with the wind? 

Extend the string west from the pin horizontally at right angles to the meridian to represent an east 
wind. 

4. Does the earth’s rotation deflect this wind to the north, or to the south, of a west direction ? 

To the right, or to the left? 

5. Try the same experiments at other latitudes north of the equator. A wind in the northern 
hemisphere, blowing in any direction, is deflected by the earth’s rotation to which hand ? 

Put the pin in a hole in a south temperate latitude, and slightly rotate the globe tow'ard the east 
with the string extended toward the north, east, south, and west. Note the direction of deflection. Try 
other southern latitudes. 

6. A wind in the southern hemisphere, blowing in any direction, is deflected by the earth’s rota¬ 
tion to which hand? 

Repeat the experiment w T ith the pin at the equator. 

7. What result do you obtain ? 

Repeat again with the pin near a pole. 

8. Is the deflection greater near the equator, or far from it ? 

Fill the blanks in this statement of Ferrel’s Law. 

Bodies moving freely (wind, water, cannon ball) in any horizontal direction are deflected by the 

earth’s rotation to the _ hand in the northern hemisphere, and to the - hand in the 

southern hemisphere. At the equator the deflection is-(much or little) ; the farther a place 

is from the equator the_(greater or less) is the deflection. 


153 




























































. 




















































WEATHER MAPS 


Purpose. To represent, on a map, the weather conditions on a given date. 


OBSERVATIONS TAKEN FEB. 10, 1907, at 8 a.m., 75th Meridian Time 



Barom. 

Therm. 

Wind 

Direc¬ 

tion 

Precipi¬ 

tation 


Barom. 

Therm. 

— 

Wind 

Direc¬ 

tion 

Precipi¬ 

tation 

Atlantic Region 





Miss. River to the 





Father Poiut 

29.8 

15 

S. 

s. 

Rocky Mts. 





Halifax 

30.0 

20 

S.E. 

s. 

Moorhead 

30.2 

18 

N.W. 


Quebec 

29.7 

20 

S. 

s. 

Willistou 

30.4 

12 

W. 


Montreal 

29.6 

22 

S. 

s. 

Prince Albert 

30.2 

12 

W. 


Rockliffe 

29.4 

26 

E. 

s. 

Edmonton 

30.2 

20 

W. 


Boston 

29.9 

20 

S. 

s. 

Medicine Hat 

30.4 

20 

W. 


Albany 

29.8 

20 

s. 

s. 

Helena 

30.6 

24 

W. 


Philadelphia 

29.9 

30 

s. 

s. 

Lander 

30.6 

22 

N.W. 


Norfolk 

30.0 

40 

s. 


Valentine 

30.4 

20 

N.W. 


Charleston 

30.1 

40 

w. 


Des Moines 

30.2 

32 

N.W. 


Jupiter 

30.1 

54 

N. 


Wichita 

30.4 

30 

N. 







Pueblo 

30.5 

25 

N. 


Gulf to the 





Amarillo 

30.5 

30 

N. 


Great Lakes 





Abilene 

30.3 

40 

N. 


Tampa 

30.1 

46 

N. 







Mobile 

30.1 

48 

N. 







Galveston 

30.1 

50 

N.W. 


*' 





Memphis 

30.2 

44 

S.W. 







Knoxville 

30.0 

40 

S.W. 


Rocky Mts. to the 





Cairo 

30.2 

36 

N.W. 


Pacific Ocean 





Milwaukee 

29.8 

30 

W. 


El Paso 

30.2 

40 

N.E. 


Columbus 

29.9 

35 

S.W. 

R. 

Santa Fe 

30.4 

30 

N.E. 


Cleveland 

29.6 

33 

S.W. 

R. 

Phoenix 

30.1 

45 

E. 


Pittsburg 

29.8 

34 

S.W. 

R. 

Yuma 

30.1 

50 

N.E. 


Oswego 

29.6 

30 

s. 

s. 

Pocatello 

30.6 

30 

S. 


Saugeen 

29.4 

30 

S.W. 

s. 

Baker City 

30.4 

31 

s. 


Sault Ste. Marie 

29.6 

25 

N. 

s. 

Roseburg 

30.2 

50 

S.E. 


Port Arthur 

29.8 

20 

N.W. 


Portland 

30.1 

40 

S.E. 


Duluth 

30.0 

20 

N.W. 


Kamloops 

30.4 

30 

S.W. 



Directions. A. On a blank United States weather map, plainly dot each city named in the 
list. With neat figures, mark the given temperature (see the third column of the table) on the north 
side of each dot. Find the cities marked 20°, and, beginning at the Atlantic coast, draw a curving line 
through all of them. Keep this isothermal line the proper distance from cities having temperatures 
slightly above or below 20° in the manner explained on page 142. With another line, connect the cities 
at 30° ; then those at 40°; and those at 50°. Mark the temperature at both ends of each of these lines. 

B. On another blank weather map, clearly dot the same cities. On the north side of each dot ? 
neatly dot the barometer reading given in the table. Find the two cities marked 29.4, and draw 
a free-hand circle connecting them. Then draw a nearly complete circle through the places marked 
29.6. Using a separate line for each group, connect places having the following pressures, in order : — 
29.8, 30.0, 30.2, 30.4, 30.6. Print low in the circle of 29.4, and high in the circle 30.6. 

Through each city draw an arrow one half inch long, flying with the wind, remembering that the 
name of the wind shows the direction from which it comes. 

At the cities where snow or rain is reported, print the proper letter S. or R. on the arrow. Slightly 
shade the entire area where snow or rain seems to be falling. 

C. On this second map (B), copy the isotherms drawn on the first map (A), using a dotted line or 
a colored line. Label this map “ Weather Map for Feb. 10, 1907.” 

155 



























D. 1. Compare the winds in the general area of high pressure (above 30.0 inches) with those 
in the general low area, and describe the air movement in each. 

2. Which area is the colder? Does the air seem to be moving towards the center of this area or 
away from it? Then is the air at this center sinking or rising? 

3. In which of these areas is there a fall of snow and rain ? Does this indicate rising or sinking air ? 

4. Why does one part of this area have rain and the other have snow ? 

5. From which of these areas does the air move to the other? Why does it? 

E. In the manner described in A and B, draw the weather map for Feb. 11, from the data below. 

6. Describe the air movement around the low and around the high. 

7. How do these directions compare with those of the previous day ? 

8. Compare the temperature and snowfall of the low with those of the previous day. 

9. In what direction has the low moved from the previous day? How far (use scale of miles) ? 
Which way and how far has the high moved? 

10. Which of these areas brings the cold wave ? 


OBSERVATIONS TAKEN FEB. 11, 1907, at 8 a.m., 75th Meridian Time 


Feb. 11, 1907 

Barom. 

Therm. 

Wind 

Direc¬ 

tion 

Snow 

or 

Rain 


Barom. 

Therm. 

Wind 

Direc¬ 

tion 

Atlantic Region 





Miss. River to the 




Father Point 

29.4 

30 

S.E. 

S. 

Rocky Mts. 




Halifax 

29.6 

40 

s.w. 

R. 

Moorhead 

30.1 

10 

S.E. 

Quebec 

29.4 

20 

w. 

S. 

Williston 

30.0 

20 

S.W. 

Montreal 

29.6 

10 

w. 

S. 

Prince Albert 

29.8 

30 

S. 

Rock 1 iff e 

29.8 

-10 

w. 

s. 

Edmonton 

29.8 

32 

N. 

Boston 

29.6 

40 

w. 

s. 

Medicine Hat 

30.0 

30 

S.W. 

Albany 

29.7 

20 

w. 

s. 

Helena 

30.4 

20 

w. 

Philadelphia 

29.9 

30 

N.W. 


Lander 

30.6 

20 

s.w. 

Norfolk 

29.9 

40 

N.W. 


Valentine 

30.2 

20 

w. 

Charleston 

30.0 

50 

N.W. 


Des Moines 

30.3 

30 

s. 

Jupiter 

30.1 

62 

N. 


Wichita 

30.4 

30 

w. 






Pueblo 

30.6 

20 

N.W. 






Amarillo 

30.5 

30 

N.W. 

Great Lakes 














Abilene 

30.5 

40 

N.W. 

Tampa 

30.1 

60 

N. 






Mobile 

30.2 

50 

N.W. 


Rocky Mts. to the 




Galveston 

30.3 

50 

N. 


Pacific Ocean 




Memphis 

30.3 

40 

N. 


El Paso 

30.4 

40 

E. 

Knoxville 

30.2 

30 

N.W. 


Santa Fe 

30.5 

30 

N.E. 

Cairo 

30.3 

35 

N.W. 


Phoenix 

30.2 

50 

N.E. 

Milwaukee 

30.3 

10 

W. 


Yuma 

30.1 

55 

N.E. 

Columbus 

30.1 

25 

N.W. 


Pocatello 

30.4 

25 

S.E. 

Cleveland 

30.0 

20 

W. 

s. 

Baker City 

30.3 

30 

S.E. 

Pittsburg 

30.0 

20 

W. 


Roseburg 

30.2 

40 

E. 

Oswego 

29.8 

14 

N.W. 

s. 

Portland 

30.2 

40 

S.E. 

Saugeen 

30.0 

0 

N.W. 

s. 

Kamloops 

30.2 

35 

W. 

Sault Ste. Marie 

30.2 

—10 

W. 

s. 





Port Arthur 

30.2 

— 10 

S. 






Duluth 

30.2 

0 

S.E. 







Snow 

or 

Rain 


S. 

S. 

s. 


156 


























Barometric 

Pressure 


WEATHER RECORD 


v 

D 

H 

< 

m 

Z 

Et) 

Relative 

Humidity 

Kinds of 

Clouds 

Rain or 

Snow 

Amount 

Direction of 

Wind 

Position of 

Storm Center 







f 


157 




































Barometric 

Pressure 


WEATHER RECORD 


£3 

>4 

03 

S3 

H 

0 


HH 

P 



0 

◄ 

Ph 

a g 
& | 

o o 

03 

Q 

S 

P 

fc; 

K 

K 

l-H 

H 


w 





Position of 
Storm Center 




158 






































THE TEMPERATE LATITUDE CYCLONE 


Purpose. To study the cyclonic storms of the United States, which cause the irregular changes of 
weather. 

Material. A group of daily United States weather maps for tw r o w r eeks or a month, bound to¬ 
gether ; a sheet of tracing paper. 

The weather map is made from data telegraphed from all weather stations to central stations 
— Washington, Chicago, etc. — at the same hour in the morning—8 o’clock Eastern time, 7 o’clock 
Central time, 6 o’clock Mountain time, 5 o’clock Pacific time. On the map the isotherms are 
dotted lines (red on the maps printed at Washington); the isobars are continuous lines; the areas 
marked low' are the storm or cyclone centers; the areas marked high are the anticyclones. For fur¬ 
ther explanation see the lower left corner of the map. 

A. Size of the Temperate Latitude Cyclone. By means of the scale of miles given on the map 
measure the width of several cyclonic storms, including in each storm all the isobars that encircle it. 

1. State the maximum, the minimum, and the average width. 


If the storm is oval in shape, give the direction of the longest diameter in each of several storms. 

B. Direction of Wind in the Cyclone and the Anticyclone. The winds represented at a city any day 
may be influenced by local conditions and so changed from their typical direction. That you may get 
at once a view 7 of the winds of several storms, and in this way overcome the influences of local con¬ 
ditions, follow these directions for the use of tracing paper. 

At the top of the sheet of tracing paper write this heading: “ Tracings from weather maps.” Draw 
a vertical line dividing the page into two equal columns. Draw two lines across, dividing each column 
into three equal parts. At the top of the first part, on the middle line w 7 rite the word “ Wind,” at the 
top of the second part the word “ Temperature,” at the top of the third part the w 7 ord “Moisture.” In 
the middle of each of the three left-hand sections write the word “ low ” ; in the middle of each right- 
hand section write the word “ high.” Prepare a sheet of writing paper in the same way, except the 
general heading, which should be “ Generalized Weather Conditions.” 

Place the word low of the wind section of the tracing paper over the center of a well-defined storm 
(low) on the weather map (a storm having several isobars encircling the center), the top of your paper 
to the north of the map. Trace all the arrows covered by this section of your tracing paper. Find on 
any day another well-defined storm; place the same low 7 of your paper over its center, top of your paper 
to the north, and trace the arrows here covered. 

Repeat the process till the arrows of your tracing paper clearly show on each side of the low a well- 
marked prevailing direction of the wind. In the corresponding section of your writing paper draw 7 six 
or eight arrows, one each side of the low, each representing the prevailing direction of the winds on its 
side of the storm as you observe it on your tracing paper. 

2. Do the winds blow toward, or from, the low ? To which hand are they deflected ? 

Is this according to FerreTs Law ? 

Place the high of the wind section of your tracing paper over a well-defined anticyclone (high) 
and trace the arrows. When you have traced the arrows of a sufficient number of anticyclones, draw an 
arrow on each side of the word high on the writing paper to indicate the directions of the wind 
around high. 

3. Do the winds blow toward, or from, the high ? To which hand are they deflected ? 

Does this accord with Ferrel’s Law? 

C. Temperatures of the Cyclones and the Anticyclones. The temperature of the storm can be told 
bv means of isothermal lines in or near the center. Note the temperatures of all the lows in the 

159 


central part of the United States during the few weeks represented by your maps; get the average. 
Note the temperatures of the highs in the same region, during the same time, and get the average. 

Place the low of the second section of your tracing paper over a well-defined storm center and 
trace the isotherms covered. Repeat with other storms till your paper shows a prevailing form of 
isothermal lines in or near the storm. Draw a single line through the corresponding low of your, 
writing paper to show this prevailing form. Mark at the ends of this line the average temperature of 
these lows. Trace and record the isotherms of the high in the same way. 

4. Which has the higher temperature, the cyclone or the anticyclone? 

Is the east side of the cyclone warmer or cooler than the west? 

D. Moisture in the Cyclone and the Anticyclone. Place the low of the third section of your tracing 
paper over the center of a well-defined storm, and trace the circles indicating moisture conditions, shad¬ 
ing those that are shaded and also those marked R and S. Repeat for several storms. Shade the cor¬ 
responding section of the writing paper to express the degree of cloudiness in different parts of the low. 
Study the high in the same manner. 

5. Is the low generally cloudy or clear ? 

Is the high generally cloudy or clear? 

On which side of the storm center is the cloudiness the heaviest ? 

E. Path of the Storm. On several consecutive weather maps find the same well-defined storm. 
On a blank weather map write the day of the month on which the storm is first noted, at the city 
nearest the storm center. On the same blank map write the next day of the month at the city nearest 
the storm center on the second day the storm is observed; continue as long as the storm can be traced. 
Draw a line of arrows connecting these date figures; it will indicate the path of the storm. On the 
same blank map trace the movements of several storms. 

6. What is the general direction of movement of the storms ? 

What is the greatest number of miles a storm moves in one day ? 

What is the least number ? 

What is the average of several days of ordinary movement ? 

Advanced Questions. 7. Study the paths of the anticyclones as you have those of the cyclones. 

8. Trace the paths of many storms, till you can observe several routes across the United States 
commonly taken by the storms. Describe each route. Compare summer routes with winter routes. 



160 















. 






































































































RAINFALL IN THE UNITED STATES 


Purpose. To map and to study the average annual rainfall within the United States. 

Directions. On a blank weather map of the United States, clearly dot each city named in the table 
on page 142. 

With neat figures, mark the number of inches of rainfall (given in that table) on the north side of 
each dot. Draw a line through the places in central United States which have 20 inches of rainfall 
(this will lie in the neighborhood of the 100th meridian). Keep the line the proper distance from the 
cities having other amounts (in the manner described on page 142). Then in order eastward, connect 
places having a rainfall of 30 inches, of 40 inches, of 50 inches, and of 60 inches, respectively. Then 
west of the 100th meridian, connect places having 10 inches, 20 inches, 30 inches, and 40 inches of rain¬ 
fall. Label the map “Average Annual Rainfall of the United States, in Inches.” 

Color lightly the area between 0 inches and 10 inches, — reddish yellow; 

“ “ “ “ 10 inches and 20 inches, — yellow; 

“ “ “ “ 20 inches and 40 inches, — light green; 

“ “ “ “ 40 inches and 60 inches, — dark green; 

“ “ “ above 60 inches, — black. 

1. Explain the rainfall of the following areas, stating whether it is mainly due to its nearness to or 
distance from the sea, the direction of the wind belt, mountains aiding or hindering, cyclonic storms, etc. 

(a) Western Oregon and Washington. 


(fe) Southern Arizona. 


(c) Northern Nevada and Utah. 


(d) The Great Plains. 


(e) The regular increase from the Great Plains to the Atlantic. 


(/) Southeastern Florida. 


2. Where must there be small areas of heavy rainfall not indicated by the reports from the cities 
in the table ? 

3. Compare your map w'ith the one on page 8 and be prepared for an oral explanation of minor 
differences. 


162 














■ 


. 








































• ' 






















SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF RAINFALL 


Purpose. To plot and to study the amount and distribution of rainfall throughout the year at 
different latitudes. 

Directions. By heavy horizontal lines, divide a sheet of cross-section paper into three equal parts 
(each 8 by 18 cm.). Mark the base line of each of the three parts, 0. Let one centimeter vertically 
represent one inch of depth of rainfall, each part of the paper thus representing eight inches. Begin¬ 
ning with each 0 line, number the eight inches of each section on the side margins. 

Let the left-hand vertical space, one centimeter wide, from the top to the bottom of the paper, 
represent January. Let the next vertical space represent February, etc., as given in the table below. 
Write the name of eacli month at the top of the proper space. 

Let the upper third of the sheet represent San Francisco. Across the space for January draw a 
horizontal line to show the exact depth of rainfall given in the table below, and lightly shade the space 
between this line and the base line. Repeat this for each month. In the same manner draw the rain¬ 
fall chart for Quito in the middle section, and for Valparaiso in the lower. "Write the name of the 
proper city in each section. 

RAINFALL, in Inches 

















Total 

Place 

Lat. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mae. 

Apr. 

May 

June 

July 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

FOR 

Year 

San Francisco, Cal. 


5.6 

4.1 

3.5 

2.5 

1.2 

0.8 

0.1 

0.1 

0.5 

1.4 

3.3 

5.7 

5.6 


Quito, Ecuador 


3.3 

4.0 

4.8 

7.2 

5.2 

1.3 

1.2 

2.2 

2.8 

4.0 

4.2 

3.6 

3.3 


Valparaiso, Chile 


0.1 

0.2 

1.0 

1.6 

3.0 

4.1 

2.9 

l.S 

O.S 

0.5 

0.3 

0.1 

0.1 



Questions. 1. What months mark the height of the two rainy seasons at Quito? 

What months mark the dry seasons there? 

2. What wind belt near the equator causes these heavy rains? Why does it? 

3. Why do not the equatorial calms affect Quito every month? 

4. At what two dates is the sun directly over Quito ? 

Dot these dates on your chart, and neatly label them “ sun overhead.” 

5. Does your chart show that the equatorial calms precede or lag behind the sun in its north and 
south movement? 

6. In which months do the winds bring the most rainfall from the ocean to San Francisco? 
In which direction must these winds blow? To what wind belt must these winds belong? 


7. Which month shows the least rainfall in San Francisco? Which way must the wind be blow¬ 
ing? To what wind belt must these winds belong? 

8. What wind belt does your chart show must affect Valparaiso in July? In January? 

9. Why does Valparaiso have its heavy rains while San Francisco is having its dry season? 


164 




































































’ 












i 















































SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF RAINFALL (Advanced) 


Select some of the cities given in the following table, and chart their rainfall as in the preceding 
exercise or by means of curves. To draw the curves, place the names of the months in order at the top 
of the heavy vertical lines. Let each centimeter vertically represent one inch. Lab^l the lowest horizontal 
line zero, then write the proper numbers along the side margins to the top of the page. Place a dot on 
each vertical line at the proper place to show the depth of rainfall for that month, and connect these 
dots by a curving line. Several curves may be placed on the same page. State the city and its latitude 
at the end of the curve. If the curves cross each other, use different colors. 


RAINFALL, in Inches 


Place 

Lat. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May 

June 

July 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Total for 

12 Months 

Rio Janeiro, Brazil . . . 


5.4 

5.7 

5.9 

5.4 

4.5 

1.5 

1.3 

2.8 

3.3 

3.9 

4.5 

5.1 

5.4 


Libreville, French Kongo . 


7.5 

9.0 

15.0 

10.0 

8.7 

0.9 

0.5 

1.2 

8.1 

19.4 

19.1 

7.S 

7.5 


Cape Town, Cape Colony . 


.07 

0.8 

1.0 

1.3 

4.0 

4.6 

8.6 

3.4 

2.2 

1.8 

1.1 

0.9 

0.7 


Calicut, India. 


1.0 

O.S 

2.2 

4.8 

12.2 

30.0 

22.0 

14.0 

13.0 

12.2 

5.4 

1.8 

1.0 


London, England .... 


2.0 

1.6 

1.4 

1.8 

1.9 

2.0 

2.5 

2.4 

2.4 

2.5 

2.1 

2.1 

2.0 


Yuma, Arizona .... 
Tatoosh Island, 


0.51 

0.51 

0.26 

0.07 

0.04 

0.01 

0.14 

0.35 

0.14 

0.28 

0.29 

0.46 

0.51 


Puget Sound 


13.6 

9.6 

9.0 

6.S 

4.6 

3.8 

1.9 

2.5 

5.6 

7.4 

13.5 

15.3 

13.6 


Chicago, Illinois .... 


2.0 

2.3 

2.6 

2.7 

8.5 

3.6 

3.7 

2.9 

3.0 

2.5 

2.4 

2.1 

2.0 



Properly fill out this table about each city you chart. 


City 

Lat. 

On a North, 
South, East, 
or West 

Coast 

Wind Belt 

DURING 

Rainy 

Season 

Direction of 

Air Movement 

W ind Belt 

DURING 

Dry . 

Season 

Direction of 

Air Movement 

Any Special Causes, as 
Mountains, Plains, 
Warm Ocean Cur¬ 
rents, etc. 










166 


























































MAGNETISM. THE COMPASS 


Purpose. To observe magnetic attraction, polarity, and its application to the compass. 

Material. Two bar magnets, iron filings, or magnetic iron ore in small grains, pieces of thread 
(some very fine), and needles. 

A. Put a small heap ( one fourth teaspoonful) of iron filings or grains of magnetic iron ore on 
a sheet of paper. Bring one end of a bar magnet within one half inch of the grains of iron. Tap 
the paper gently to aid the movement of the grains. 

1. Describe (sketch if you can) the way in which the grains arrange themselves. 


2. Bring the other end of the magnet near the grains. What is the effect? 

3. Lay the magnet under the paper and sprinkle the grains over the paper; tap a few times very 
gently. Describe (sketch) the arrangement of the grains. 


B. Suspend the magnet in a sling (a paper loop at the end of a thread). Very slowly bring 
the & end of another magnet near and at the side of the S' end of the suspended magnet. 

4. What motion of the suspended magnet follows? 

Does this mean attraction or repulsion ? 

Bring the N end of the second magnet near the S end of the suspended magnet. 

5. What motion of the suspended magnet follows? 

Does this mean attraction or repulsion ? 

6. Bring the two JV ends near each other; what motion follows? 

Is there attraction or repulsion ? 

7. Fill the blanks in the following statement by the correct word — attract or repel. 

Like poles of a magnet each other; unlike poles each other. 

C. Magnetize a needle by laying it lengthwise on a magnet and sliding it back and forth. 
Suspend the magnetized needle over the end of your desk, the needle horizontal, at the end of a long, 
very fine thread, no magnet near. Turn it back and forth, then let it come to rest. 

Repeat this three or four times. If your experiment is successful, the needle will repeatedly take 
the same position. 

8. Toward what points of the compass do the ends lie? 

Why do you think the needle does not take this position by chance ? 

Slowly bring the N end of a magnet near the north-pointing end of the needle. 

9. Is there attraction or repulsion shown ? 

Does the iV or the 5 end of the needle point north ? 

10. Is this needle a compass? 

11. Test the magnet by carefully suspending it on a thread as long and as fine as is convenient, and 
holding it till it comes to rest. Try several times. Is the large suspended magnet a compass ? 

167 




















. 


































. 






- 



















SECTION OF OCEAN BORDER. CONTINENTAL SHELF 


Purpose. To show the widths of the continental shelf, the depths of water, and the slopes of the 
bottom. 

Directions. Write “ sea level ” on the second line from the top of a sheet of cross-section paper. Let 
each centimeter along this line represent 10 miles, and each centimeter down from this line represent 
100 fathoms. 

1. This gives how much vertical exaggeration ? 

Below the sea-level line make a series of small dots according to the data given below. E.g., for 
Atlantic City, one centimeter from the starting point (10 miles) make a dot a little more than half a 
small square (12 fathoms) below sea level. Two centimeters (20 miles) from the starting point, make a 
dot | of a small square below sea level (15 fathoms), at three centimeters (30 miles) make a dot \\ small 
squares (25 fathoms) below sea level, and so on. 

A line connecting the dots represents the continental shelf, and the beginning of the slope down to 
the deep sea bottom. 

In the same manner draw other sections to the same sea-level line, using a different kind of line — 
dots, dashes, or colors for each section ; or draw each section to a separate sea-level line. 


East from Atlantic City, N.J. 


Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

10 

12 

50 

30 

85 

500 

20 

15 

60 

40 

90 

1000 

30 

25 

70 

50 

100 

1300 

40 

20 

15 

100 




2. At about what depth does the steep slope of the front of continental shelf begin? 

3. About how many miles wide is the shelf at Atlantic City? 

4. Does the bottom of the water slope continuously down from the shore outward? 


From Jupiter Inlet, Florida, east to Bahama Islands. 


Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

2 

6 

30 

400 

55 

280 

4 

16 

35 

430 

57 

100 

10 

100 

40 

420 

58 

0 

20 

250 

50 

340 




The Gulf Stream flows north through this strait, most swiftly where the water is deepest. 

5. Which side of the strait has the steeper slope? 

6. Is the shallow water bordering the shore a broader, or a narrower, strip than at Atlantic City? 


169 





































From South Pass (Mouth of Mississippi River) Southeast 


Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

o 

20 

20 

300 

40 

700 

4 

45 

25 

400 

50 

950 

10 

85 

30 

550 



15 

190 

35 

620 




7. The delta at the mouth of the Mississippi is building on this shelf. It has reached within how 
many miles of the border of the shelf? 


For the section from Portland, the sea-level line must run lengthwise of the paper. 


From Portland, Me., Southeast 


Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

Distance 
from Shore, 
Miles 

Depth of 
Water, 
Fathoms 

2 

20 

90 

130 

170 

25 

6 

50 

100 

110 

180 

30 

10 

75 

110 

90 

190 

35 

20 

100 

120 

100 

200 

45 

30 

50 

130 

105 

210 

55 

40 

70 

140 

20 

220 

70 

50 

90 

142 

10 

225 

100 

60 

50 

146 

20 

230 

500 

70 

100 

150 

20 

235 

1000 

80 

no 

160 

20 

240 

. 1300 


8. The shallow strip beginning 140 miles from shore is probably a glacial moraine. It is valuable 
as a fishing bank. How wide is this bank ? 

9. How many miles wide is the shelf at Portland ? 

10. Is the bottom more, or less, uneven than in the Atlantic City section ? 


170 



























































. 









. 





























































* 



























. 




























SECTION OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN 


Purpose. To draw a profile from the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia, to Monte Junto, Portugal, 
showing the slopes of the land and the depths of the ocean, at latitude 39° N. 

Directions. On a sheet of cross-section paper, draw a line parallel to the binding margin of 
the paper and three centimeters from the margin, and label it “sea level.” Using a horizontal 
scale of one centimeter for 200 miles, and a vertical scale of one centimeter for 1000 fathoms 
(= 6000 feet), make a series of dots according to the following data and draw line connecting the 
dots. Shade green or blue the space between sea level and the bottom of the ocean. 


Distance from West End 


0 miles, Blue Ridge 
10 miles, foot of mountain 
200 miles, shore 
290 miles, shelf 
320 miles, 

540 miles, 

1000 miles, 

1640 miles, 

2260 miles, 

2460 miles, 

2660 miles, edge of ridge 
2685 miles, shore Azores Islands 
2700 miles, edge of ridge 
2800 miles, 

2940 miles, 

3560 miles, 

3610 miles, 

3640 miles, shore 
3665 miles, Monte Junto 


Land Surface or Ocean Bottom 


3000 feet altitude 
1000 feet altitude 
0 feet altitude 
100 fathoms deep 
1000 fathoms deep 
2000 fathoms deep 
3000 fathoms deep 
3000 fathoms deep 
2000 fathoms deep 
1000 fathoms deep 
500 fathoms deep 
0 feet altitude 
500 fathoms deep 
1000 fathoms deep 
2000 fathoms deep 
2000 fathoms deep 
500 fathoms deep 
0 feet altitude 
2200 feet altitude 


About 1200 miles from the west side of the ocean, write at the proper places for the depths 
here given, the temperatures of the water. At the surface 70 degrees, at a depth of 200 fathoms 
39 degrees, at a depth of 1000 fathoms 38 degrees, at the bottom 35 degrees. 

Questions. 1. How much is the vertical exaggeration of the section? 

2. About how many miles wide is the Atlantic Ocean at latitude 39°N? How deep? Where 
is the deeper part? 

3. How broad is the ridge on which the Azores Islands stand? 

4. Which side of the ocean at this latitude has the broader continental shelf? Which has the 
broader coastal plain? 

5. Do you think the seashore, or the edge of the continental shelf, should be taken as the border of 
the continent? Give a reason. 


6. Does the temperature change more rapidly near the surface, or near the bottom, of the ocean ? 














■' 




















TIDES IN THE OCEAN 


Purpose. To study the tidal changes of water level. 

According to the following directions make a graph to represent the upward and downward 
movements of the surface of the sea at Eastport, Maine, from Sept. 17 to Sept. 28, 1899. 

On a sheet of cross-section paper, along the binding border, write numbers on heavy lines to 
represent the days of the month given above; — thus, one centimeter from the left write 17, three 
centimeters from the left 18, five centimeters 19, etc., two centimeters representing one day, and the 
number being written on the noon line. Notice that 6 o’clock will come in the middle of the centi¬ 
meter space; estimate the positions of the other hours. Four centimeters from the top draw a line 
across the sheet and label it “ mean (average) sea level.” At the ends label the heavy lines above mean 
sea level 5, 10, 15, and the heavy lines below — 5, — 10, — 15, each centimeter representing five feet. 

Make a dot in the proper place for 2:21 a.m. (about one small square from the left) and 
— 10.3 feet, — the first ebb tide Sept. 17. Make another dot for 8:28 a.m. (more than three small 
squares from the left) and 9.8 feet, — the first flood tide for Sept. 17. Connect these dots by a straight 
line. Make another dot for 2 : 46 p.m. and —10.3 feet, — the second ebb tide for Sept. 17. Draw a line 
from this dot to the flood tide dot preceding. Continue across the sheet according to the data here given: 


Day, 

Sept. 

Hour 

Height, 

Feet 

Day, 

Sept. 

Hour 

Height, 

Feet 

Day, 

Sept. 

Hour 

Height, 

Feet 

Day, 

Sept. 

Hour 

Height, 

Feet 

17. 

2:21 a.m. 

- 10.3 

20. 

4 :52 a.m. 

- 11.8 

23. 

12 :56 a.m. 

10.4 

26. 

3 :30 a.m. 

7.2 


8 :28 a.m. 

9.8 


10:58 a.m. 

11.9 


7 :12 a.m. 

- 10.2 


9 :49 a.m. 

- 7.1 


2 :46 p.m. 

- 10.3 


5:17 p.m. 

- 12.0 


1:16 p.m. 

10.8 


3 :52 p.m. 

7.7 


8:52 p.m. 

10.8 


11:24 p.m. 

11.6 


7:43 p.m. 

- 10.7 


10:35 p.m. 

— 7.7 

18. 

3 :15 a.m. 

- 11.0 

21. 

5:39 a.m. 

- 11.6 

24. 

1 :44 a.m. 

9.4 

27. 

4 :29 a.m. 

6.4 


9:21 a.m. 

10.8 


11 :45 a.m. 

10.9 


8 :00 a.m. 

- 9.2 


10 :50 a.m. 

- 7.4 


3 : 40 p.m. 

- 11.3 


6:05 p.m. 

- 12.1 


2:04 p.m. 

9.8 


4:53 p.m. 

7.0 


9:46 p.m. 

11.4 





8 : 33 p. m . 

- 8.6 


11:25 p.m. 

- 7.1 

19. 

4 :05 a.m. 

- 11.5 

22. 

12 :09 a.m. 

11.1 

25. 

2 :36 a.m. 

8.3 

28. 

5 :31 a.m. 

5.9 


10:10 a.m. 

11.5 


6 :25 a.m. 

- 11.1 


8 :53 a.m. 

- 8.1 


11:52 a.m. 

-6.2 


4 :29 p.m. 

- 11.9 


12 :30 p.m. 

11.5 


2:57 p.m. 

8.7 


5:54 p.m. 

6.6 


10 :36 p.m. 

11.7 


6 :53 p.m. 

- 11.6 


9 :28 p.m. 

- 8.6 





Make a small circle under the number 19 to indicate the moon was full Sept. 19; and under 
26 make a small semicircle convex to the left to indicate third quarter moon Sept. 26. 

Questions. 1. How many flood tides each day? How many ebb? 

2. As you glance over the graph, do the tide phenomena of one day appear at the same hour 
as those of the preceding day, or are they earlier, or later ? Subtract the times of the tides Sept. 17 
from the times of the corresponding tides Sept. 18, and the times of the tides Sept. 18 from the times 
of the corresponding tides Sept. 19; repeat the process for two more days. What is the average differ¬ 
ence in time between the tides of one day and the corresponding tides of the next day? 

3. How many hours and minutes on the average from one flood to the next flood ? From ebb 
to ebb? From flood to ebb? 

4. A day or two after what phase of the moon are the floods uncommonly high? They are called 
“springtides.” When are the floods uncommonly low ? They are called “neap tides.” N.B. Spring 
tides occur also after new moon, and neap tides after first quarter. 

5. How does the neap ebb compare with the spring ebb ? 

6. How much is the neap tidal range (height of flood above ebb)? How much is the spring 
range ? What fraction of the spring range is the neap range ? N.B. The contrast between spring and 
neap here shown.is greater than the average. 

Advanced Questions. 7. On a precipitous coast would there be much, or little, horizontal movement 
of water in the rising or the falling tide ? 

8. How would the tide be of any importance in the use of shallow harbors ? 

9. Why do vessels sometimes start on their voyages at such an unseemly hour as 2 or 3 a.m. ? 

174 











































' 








. 







































NEW JERSEY. ATLANTIC CITY SHEET 


Purpose. To study the sea border of a low growing plain. 

Description of the Region. The part of New Jersey adjoining the region represented on this 
map is a sandy plain, generally not fertile, and covered with a growth of inferior pines. The alti¬ 
tude is low, the relief slight, and marshes border the streams. The fertile tracts are cultivated, and 
considerable fishing is done along the coast, but the seaside resorts, many of which are open all 
the year, furnish the chief occupation of the people. 

Location and Extent. 1. In what part of New Jersey is this region? In what geographic district? 

2. How many miles long is the shore of the mainland, west of the great marsh, in the northwest 
corner of the map ? 

Relief and Shore Features. 3. The beaches, which make the actual sea border, lie how far from 
the mainland ? 

4. What lies between the beaches and the mainland ? 

As the tide comes in, the creeks are filled with sea water; as the tide goes out, the smaller creeks 
are completely drained and the larger ones partly emptied. 

5. What part of the marsh is being artificially drained (straight blue lines) and so made serviceable ? 

6. From what names do you infer that the bays and connecting waterways are navigable to small 
boats and yachts? 

7. How wide are Brigantine and Island beaches ? How long is each ? 

8. What is their highest altitude? Is much or little of them over 10 feet above sea level? 

9. How does the north end of Absecon Beach compare with the other beaches in width and 
altitude? Give a reason for the location of Atlantic City. 

10. Do the ends of the beaches of this sheet generally “ hook ” toward the mainland or toward 
the ocean? Give a reason. 

11. How many lighthouses are there on this sheet? How many life-saving stations? Explain 
the need of the latter. 

12. Which border of the beaches is the smoother, that toward the sea or that toward the marsh ? 
Explain why it is so. 

13. What interrupts the straightness of the line in which the mainland meets the salt marsh ? 
What sort of a shore would a perfectly smooth coastal plain have? 

Advanced Questions. 14. Make a sketch map of one of the tidal creeks and its tributaries — the 
small streams in the salt marsh. 

15. Does the mainland within \ mile of the salt marsh slope more, or less, than at a distance of 
one or two miles back? Give reason. 

16. Where did the sand of the beaches come from? What agents built it into the beaches? 

17. Explain the formation of the small hills on the beaches. 

18. Why are there so many seaside resorts on the New Jersey coast, and no commercial towns? 


176 



















* 



















































MAINE. BOOTHBAY SHEET 


Purpose. To study the ocean border of a high, rocky plain well dissected by rivers. 

Description of the Region. The rocks of this region are mainly hard and crystalline. The glacial 
ice swept most of the rock waste off into the sea. The framework of the hills is the bed rock, but tli« 
topography is considerably modified in places by glacial deposits. The depths of the water are con¬ 
siderable,— from nearly 200 feet in Sheepscot Bay to 50 feet in Sheepscot River at the north border of 

the map, 25 to 30 feet in Boothbay Harbor. This is sometimes called a coast of small fiords. 

Location and Extent. 1. What part of the Maine coast is here represented? 

2. How many miles in a straight line is Griffith Head from Pemaquid Point? Following the 

shore line it is about 100 miles. 

Relief and Shore Features. 3. Give the altitudes of four or five large hills. 

4. The ridges and valleys extend in what direction ? 

5. Give the height, the width, and the length of four of the named islands of different sizes. In 
what direction do they extend? Are they in line with the ridges or with the valleys of the mainland? 
Explain how they came to be so. 

6. Describe the size and altitude of the ledges at 43° 50' N. Why do you suppose they are not of 
the same material as the beaches of the New Jersey coast? 

7. Are there few or many salt marshes? Where are they located? 

8. Give as many evidences as you can that the land was once higher and has been somewhat 
submerged. 

9. Are the villages located near the shore, or inland? Why there? 

10. Notice the one railroad in the northwest corner of the map. Why does it not run down to 
Boothbay and the neighboring villages ? 

11. What means of transportation have the people of these villages? 

12. Compare the number of lighthouses and life-saving stations here with that on the New Jersey 
sheet, and explain the difference. 

Advanced Questions. 13. Draw a cross section to show the depth of water from the south end 
of Damiscove Island west to the mainland, using the following data and the standard vertical scale. 


Cm. from Mainland. 

0 

o 

4 

7 

8 

10 

12 

14 

15 

16 

Feet Deep. 

0 

GO 

84 

192 

102 

136 

198 

150 

90 

0 


14. Account for the shallow place 8 centimeters from the west end of the section. 

15. Draw an outline map of Linekin Neck and shade the part that would be submerged if the land 
should sink 100 feet. 




178 

















































. 

















































■ 


OREGON. POR' r ORFORD SHEET 


Purpose. To study a narrow coastal plain and a mountainous coast. 

Description of the Region. This sheet represents a part of the coast mountains in southern Oregon, 
and part of a narrow coastal plain which extends from the village of Port Orford many miles north of 
the limits of this sheet. Although most of the rock of this region is sedimentary, volcanic intrusions 
and lava flows are numerous. Tower Rock, Castle Rock, Island Rock, and some other islands are 
probably old volcanic necks. This whole region was in late geologic times base-leveled and submerged, 
aud has recently been elevated. Nearly everywhere the bed rock is covered by only a thin layer of rock 
waste, but on the coastal plain the sand and gravel varies in thickness from 20 feet at the base of the 
mountains to 85 feet at the sea border. 

Topography and Coast Features. 1. What is the width of the plain at Cape Blanco? At the 
northern border of the map ? What is its altitude at Denmark ? 

2. Note the fine brown dotted areas that represent beach sand. Is this beach sand abundant on 
the rocky points? On the low shores? 

3. Why does not Floras Creek flow directly west into the ocean as it once did? 

4. How was Garrison Lagoon, near Port Orford village, formed? Name three other bodies of 
water on this sheet that were similarly formed. 


5. Does the sheet show that the streams of this region have steep, or gentle, grades ? Therefore, 
do they carry much or little sediment? What evidently becomes of the sediment brought to the sea by 
Elk and Sixes rivers? Therefore, where are the waves building up the shore line? 


6. How does the coast line north of Point Orford compare w T ith that to the south ? Give the 
reasons for the differences. 


7. Are most of the rocky islets located off rocky promontories, or off low beaches ? Are the waves 
cutting, or building, at the headlands ? 

8. Do you find many good harbors on this rising coast ? If the land should sink 100 feet, where 
would there be good harbors? 


180 



WINDS AND CURRENTS. 


Purpose. To study the relation of the ocean surface circulation to the planetary winds. 



120 HO 100 180 160 140 120 100 80 00 40 20 0 20 iO 60 80 100 

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1. Name the currents in the trade wind belts in the middle of the oceans, give the general direc¬ 
tion in which they move, and the reason for this movement. 

2. When the water driven by the trade winds reaches the western side of the oceans, what direc¬ 
tions does it take? Give the names applied to the currents formed of these waters. 

3. Name the currents and drifts which have an easterly direction in latitudes 40° to GO 0 , and give 
a reason for their direction. 

4. Explain what becomes of the water of each of these drifts when it reaches the eastern side of 
the oceans, and give the names of the currents formed of it. 

5. What is the direction of the drift in the Indian Ocean north of the equator in winter (large 
map) ? In summer (small corner map) ? Explain the difference. 

6. Give the latitude and the longitude of the center of each of the five large ocean areas that have 
no current. Explain why there are no currents here. 

7. Name the currents or drifts that exert a cooling influence on the shores they wash, and name 
the countries thus affected by each. 

8. Name the currents or drifts that exert a warming influence, and the countries thus affected by 
each. 


182 

































































































. 



































































OCEAN ROUTES 


Purpose. To learn how ocean routes are influenced by prevailing winds, by storms and currents. 

Material. Pilot charts of the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans, a globe, a string. 

A. The North Pacific Ocean. To find the shortest course vessels could take from San Francisco to 
Yokohama, Japan, stretch a string on a globe between these two places. 

1. Is it an east-west line? 

On the North Pacific Pilot Chart this is called the Great Circle Route between San Francisco and 
Yokohama. 

2. How many miles long is it ? 

3. Reckoning 54| miles to a degree, how many miles are there from San Francisco to Yokohama 
in an east-west line? How much different from the great cii-cle route? 

4. Give a reason why the sailing route from Yokohama to San Francisco is so different from the 
sailing route from San Francisco to China and Japan. 

5. State and explain the difference between the sailing route from Juan de Fuca to San Diego and 
that from San Diego to Juan de Fuca. 

6. Describe the general path of typhoons. In what months are they most frequent ? (See Table of 
Storm Tracks.) 

B. The North Atlantic Ocean. 7. Explain the difference between the sailing route from the English 
Channel to the equator and that from the equator to the English Channel. 

S. Describe the route fiom New York to the equator, and explain why the retixrn route is diffei’ent. 

9. Why do sailoi’s going from London to New York sometimes go as far south as latitude 25° N. ? 
On the return voyage would they take the same course ? 

10. Dense fogs are common on the Grand Banks southeast of Newfouixdland from late winter till 
early summer. Icebergs and floes (small red triangles and cii-cles) are frequent there in summer. On 
account of these dangers how do the spring and summer steamer routes differ from the fall and winter 
routes ? 

11. To avoid collisions in fog or storm the east-bound steamer roxxtes from New York to Europe do 
not coincide with the west-bound routes. Which lies further north ? 

12. What vessel routes lie in the Gulf Stream going northeast but avoid the Stream going in the 
opposite direction ? 

13. Heavy red lines mark the storm paths. Routes in what latitudes are most subject to storms ? 

14. If you find any hurricane paths mapped, describe the path and give the months in which the 
storms occur. 

Advanced Questions. 15. Water currents and drifts are marked by small black arrows. Locate the 
places in either ocean whei'e the surface water movement corresponds with the prevailing wind direction. 

16. What kinds of vessels seem to prefer great circle routes? What kinds adapt their x-outes more 
to the prevailing winds ? 

17. Of the hundreds of ships plying between Europe and America, why does a voyager meet so 
few? In what part of his route does he see the lai'gest number? 


184 


I 














_ • • 


Xjess than 10 inches 
10 inches to 20 inches 
20 inches to 75 inches 
' Over 75 inches 



CIRCLE 




CANCER 


EQUATOR 


CAPRICORN 


Southern 


VEGETATION REGIONS 


HHI Forest Region 

Agricultural Lands 
Pasture Region 
I ~~"T Deserts and Tundras 


ANTARCTIC CIRCLE 


186 



























































RAINFALL AND VEGETATION 


Purpose. To study the distribution of rain over the earth, and the vegetation areas and belts de¬ 
pending on rainfall and temperature. 

A. Rainfall. ( 1 urn to your study of the Terrestrial Wind Belts, p. 151, and review the latitudes, and 
direction of winds, of each belt.) 

1. hat belt around the earth has the heaviest rainfall? In what wind belts is it? 

Are there any dry regions in it ? 

2. Between what latitude boundaries are the large desert areas that are crossed by the tropic of 
Cancer? By the tropic of Capricorn? 

On which side of the land masses do these desert areas extend down to the ocean? Explain why 
this is so. 

3. At what places in these dry belts is the rainfall heavy? On which side of the continents are 
these places ? Give a reason for these heavy rainfalls. 


4. In what wind belt are the dry areas of Central Asia and the United States? Do these deserts 
extend to the ocean on either side of the continent ? Give a reason. Give the location of a corresponding 
dry region in the southern hemisphere. 


B. Vegetation. 5. Give the general location of each of the two belts which include most of the 
great forest regions of the earth. 

The forests of the torrid belt are very different from those of the cool belt. The latter are mostly 
of spruces, firs, and pines; while the former include a large variety of broad-leaved trees. 

6. Carefully compare the tw’o maps. Are the forest regions generally areas of heavy or of light 
rainfall? Name four comparatively small regions that illustrate your answer. 

7. Are the pasture regions areas of light or of heavy rainfall? Name several regions which 
illustrate your answer. 

8. IIow many inches of rainfall do most of the large agricultural regions receive? Why, then, in 
Egypt, which receives a desert rainfall, is a strip marked agricultural? 

9. Does the northern or the southern hemisphere have the large tundra regions ? TV hy ? 

Advanced Questions. 10. In which hemisphere, the northern or the southern, do the areas of palms 
and of grain extend nearer the pole ? Give reason. 

11. Taking 20 inches of rainfall as the dividing line, do the dry areas, or the moist, occupy the 
larger portion of the land surface? Name a continent in which the opposite condition prevails. 

12. Why is the southern part of South America rainy on the w^est side while southwestern Africa 
is desert? 

13. Are the long, narrow forest regions of Europe and Asia on mountains or in valleys? V hy ? 

187 



Compare these two pictures, one representing a cold-climate forest, the other representing an 
equatorial forest. 

1. In which would a man find more obstruction by bushes and vines? 

2. In which are the trunks set more closely together? 

3. Mow has this crowding and consequent loss of sunlight affected the lower branches of 
the spruce? 

4. Which forest would produce the straighter timber ? 

5. In what two ways are the spruce branches adapted to shed the snow ? 


189 




























































CONTENTS 


Number of 

Exercisf Name of Exercise 


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